WORK AND PENSIONS

Child Poverty Bill

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if she will estimate the monetary value in 2009-10 prices of the relative poverty threshold contained in her Department's Child Poverty Bill for  (a) a single adult,  (b) a childless couple and  (c) a couple with one dependent child; and if she will make a statement.

Helen Goodman: holding answer 22 October 2009
	Estimates of the monetary value in 2009-10 prices of the relative poverty threshold are not available. The thresholds for 2007-08 (the latest Households Below Average Income statistics available) are  (a) £158 per week for a single adult;  (b) £236 per week for a couple without children; and  (c) £283 per week for a couple with one child under 14, and £314 per week for a couple with one child who is 14 or over.

Cold Weather Payments: Bedfordshire

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many cold weather payments have been made to residents of Mid-Bedfordshire constituency in each year since 2003.

Helen Goodman: Mid-Bedfordshire constituency is linked to Bedford weather station. The number of times cold weather payments have been triggered at this weather station in each year since 2002-03 is given in the following table:
	
		
			  Cold weather payment triggers at Bedford weather station 
			   Number 
			 2002-03 1 
			 2003-04 0 
			 2004-05 0 
			 2005-06 0 
			 2006-07 0 
			 2007-08 0 
			 2008-09 3 
			  Source: DWP records. 
		
	
	It is not possible to give the estimated number of payments made in 2002-03 and 2008-09 to residents of Mid-Bedfordshire constituency as this information is not available at constituency level but only by weather station (and Bedford weather station covers a wider area than just this constituency).

Housing Benefit

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many households living in the private rented sector were claiming housing benefit in  (a) England,  (b) each English region and  (c) each London borough in (i) 2005-06 and (ii) the most recent year for which figures are available.

Helen Goodman: Such information as is available is in the following tables.
	
		
			  Number of households in private rented sector receiving housing benefit in England and each English region: May 2005 
			   Number 
			 England 692,440 
			 North East 36,790 
			 North West 112,130 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 63,730 
			 East Midlands 43,700 
			 West Midlands 59,130 
			 East 59,180 
			 London 132,060 
			 South East 104,700 
			 South West 81,020 
		
	
	
		
			  Number of households in private rented sector receiving housing benefit in England and each English region: May 2009 
			   Number 
			 England (1)1,071,050 
			 North East 55,380 
			 North West 159,950 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 101,340 
			 East Midlands 76,480 
			 West Midlands 101,570 
			 East 96,290 
			 London (1)200,140 
			 South East 159,990 
			 South West 119,910 
		
	
	
		
			  Number of households in private rented sector receiving housing benefit in London boroughs: May 2005 
			   Number 
			 London 132,060 
			 Barking and Dagenham 2,690 
			 Barnet 7,640 
			 Bexley 2,130 
			 Brent 8,590 
			 Bromley 2,880 
			 Camden 3,880 
			 City of London 80 
			 Croydon 7,380 
			 Ealing 5,860 
			 Enfield 6,610 
			 Greenwich 2,980 
			 Hackney 4,490 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 2,920 
			 Haringey 7,400 
			 Harrow 4,570 
			 Havering 2,200 
			 Hillingdon 3,380 
			 Hounslow 3,310 
			 Islington 2,180 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 2,600 
			 Kingston Upon Thames 1,690 
			 Lambeth 4,710 
			 Lewisham 5,400 
			 Merton 2,620 
			 Newham 8,140 
			 Redbridge 4,830 
			 Richmond Upon Thames 1,800 
			 Southwark 3,180 
			 Sutton 2,060 
			 Tower Hamlets 2,000 
			 Waltham Forest 4,480 
			 Wandsworth 3,590 
			 Westminster 3,810 
		
	
	
		
			  Number of households in private rented sector receiving housing benefit in London boroughs: May 2009 
			   Number 
			 London (1)200,140 
			 Barking and Dagenham 4,890 
			 Barnet (2)- 
			 Bexley 3,560 
			 Brent 11,380 
			 Bromley 4,340 
			 Camden 4,120 
			 City of London 110 
			 Croydon 12,880 
			 Ealing 8,690 
			 Enfield (2)- 
			 Greenwich 4,230 
			 Hackney 7,190 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 3,720 
			 Haringey 10,000 
			 Harrow 7,000 
			 Havering 3,410 
			 Hillingdon 5,750 
			 Hounslow 5,170 
			 Islington 2,830 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 3,350 
			 Kingston Upon Thames 2,690 
			 Lambeth 6,330 
			 Lewisham 7,940 
			 Merton 3,690 
			 Newham (2)- 
			 Redbridge (2)- 
			 Richmond Upon Thames 2,390 
			 Southwark 3,850 
			 Sutton 3,400 
			 Tower Hamlets 3,910 
			 Waltham Forest 7,760 
			 Wandsworth 6,000 
			 Westminster 5,980 
			 (1) Estimates of the four missing London boroughs have been used to get these figures. (2) Denotes information not available until revised figures are released on 11 November 2009. Please visit http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/hb_ctb/Methodology_revision_webpage.pdf for an understanding of improvements in methodology for housing benefit/council tax benefit caseload national statistics. Notes: 1. The data refer to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple. 2. The figures have been rounded to the nearest 10. 3. Figures for any non-responding authorities have been estimated. 4. Figures may not sum due to rounding. 5. Housing benefit figures exclude any extended payment cases. 6. Private tenants exclude registered social landlords.  Source:  Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Management Information System Quarterly 100 per cent, taken in May 2005 and Single Housing Benefit Extract (SHBE) taken in May 2009

Housing Benefit: Bedfordshire

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people resident in Mid Bedfordshire constituency were in receipt of housing benefit on the latest date for which figures are available.

Helen Goodman: Housing benefit information is not available at constituency level.

Housing Benefit: Lone Parents

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate she has made of the number of teenage single parents in receipt of housing benefit.

Helen Goodman: The latest available information is in the following table:
	
		
			  Teenage lone parents in receipt of housing benefit in Great Britain 
			   Number 
			 May 2004 25,000 
			  Notes:  1. The figures are based on a 1 per cent. sample and are therefore subject to a degree of sampling variation.  2. Lone parents are defined as single people with dependants.  3. 16 to 19-year-olds have been included in the sample.  4. The figures have been rounded to the nearest thousand.  5. Figures for any non-responding authorities have been estimated.  6. Housing benefit figures exclude any extended payment cases.   Source:  Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Management Information System, Annual 1 per cent. sample, taken in May 2004. 
		
	
	From February 2007, DWP has been collecting more detailed HB/CTB data electronically from local authorities. Over time this will improve the accuracy, timeliness and level of detail available in the published statistics. Quality assurance has been carried out on much of the new data, and the results are published at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/hbctb.asp
	However, as not all of the detail has been quality assured to publication standard, this particular question can only be answered by using data from the previous detailed data source, which is for May 2004.

New Deal Schemes: Enfield

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many young people resident in Enfield North constituency have found employment through the New Deal in each year since 1998.

Jim Knight: The table shows the number of job starts by young people in the Enfield North constituency who have found work through the New Deal for Young People since 1998. Some individuals will have had more than one job start:
	
		
			   Job starts 
			 1998 130 
			 1999 180 
			 2000 160 
			 2001 150 
			 2002 110 
			 2003 180 
			 2004 210 
			 2005 190 
			 2006 200 
			 2007 230 
			 2008 200 
			 2009 30 
			  Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Westminster parliamentary constituency (post May 2005) is allocated using the ONS postcode directory and customer's postcode. 3. Year of entering job is the calendar year that the job was gained. 4. Latest data are to February 2009.  Source: The Department for Work and Pensions. Information Directorate. 
		
	
	The figures are available at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/tabtool.asp

New Deal Schemes: Enfield

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many lone parents resident in Enfield North constituency found work through the New Deal in each year since 1998.

Jim Knight: The table shows the number of job starts by people in the Enfield North constituency who have found work through the New Deal for Lone Parents since 1998. Some individuals will have had more than one job start.
	
		
			   Job starts 
			 1998 - 
			 1999 40 
			 2000 60 
			 2001 60 
			 2002 70 
			 2003 100 
			 2004 130 
			 2005 150 
			 2006 160 
			 2007 140 
			 2008 160 
			 2009 20 
			  Notes: 1. '-' nil or negligible. 2. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 3. Westminster parliamentary constituency (post May 2005) is allocated using the ONS postcode directory and customer's postcode. 4. Year of entering job is the calendar year that the job was gained. 5. Latest data are to February 2009.  Source: The Department for Work and Pensions Information Directorate 
		
	
	The figures are available at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/tabtool.asp

Poverty: Children

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what datasets show the number of children living in child poverty by  (a) local authority area and  (b) ward; how often each is produced; what time lag is involved for each; and if she will make a statement.

Helen Goodman: holding answer 26 October 2009
	The dataset 'Children in Families in Receipt of Out-of-work Benefits' is currently used as a proxy to measure child poverty at the local level. This dataset is the basis for indicator 116 in the National Indicator Set, used by local government and its partners. The data were produced between 2004 and 2007 and are available at both local authority and ward level. April 2007 is the latest available. There is a six-month time lag for this dataset.
	A revised indicator is currently being developed to measure child poverty at local level and will include children living in low income working families as well as those in workless families. The revised indicator will be the proportion of children living in families in receipt of out-of-work benefits or working families whose income is below 60 per cent. of median income. This will provide information on both in-work and out-of-work poverty in the local area.
	The data will also be available at both local authority and ward level. It will be produced annually. Data will shortly be available for 2006 and 2007.
	In addition to NI116, the National Indicator Set provides local authorities and their partners with a wide range of data related to child poverty and its underlying causes. Local authorities can use local administrative data to supplement the data that are provided from central Government.
	The Child Poverty Unit is working with the Centre for Excellence and Outcomes in Children and Young People's Services (C4EO)-a sector led organisation-to develop a tool to help local delivery partners analyse local data relating to child poverty. This tool will be available from the end of the year.

Poverty: Children

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many children are living in households with income below 60 per cent. of median income before housing costs, based on the family's income  (a) including and  (b) excluding income from disability living allowance; and how many such children are in households with one or more disabled adult.

Helen Goodman: holding answer 26 October 2009
	In 2007-08, there were 2.9 million children in households with incomes below 60 per cent. of median income when disability living allowance is included as income. Of these, 0.8 million children were in households with one or more disabled adult.
	When disability living allowance is excluded as income, there were 2.9 million children in households with incomes below 60 per cent. of median income in 2007-08. Of these, 0.9 million children were in households with one or more disabled adults.
	 Notes:
	1. These statistics are based on households below average income, sourced from the Family Resources survey. The Family Resources survey is available in the Library.
	2. Small changes should be treated with caution as these will be affected by sampling error and variability in non-response.
	3. The reference period for households below average income figures are single financial years.
	4. The income measures used to derive the estimates shown employ the same methodology as the Department for Work and Pensions publication "Households Below Average Income" (HBAI) series, which uses disposable household income, adjusted (or 'equivalised') for household size and composition, as an income measure as a proxy for standard of living.
	5. For the households below average income series, incomes have been equivalised using the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) equivalisation factors.
	6. Numbers of children have been rounded to the nearest hundred thousand.
	7. No adjustment is made to disposable household income to take into account any additional costs that may be incurred due to an illness or disability, because research shows these vary significantly in level and nature, and there is no general agreement on how to measure these costs.

Winter Fuel Payments

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if she will estimate the saving to the public purse which would arise in each of the next six financial years if the lower age of eligibility for winter fuel payments were raised in line with increases in the state pension age for women.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 26 October 2009
	The age of eligibility for winter fuel payments will increase in line with the state pension age for women from winter 2010-11 onwards. The necessary legislation was put in place earlier this year.
	Government spending plans and forecasts have been based on the assumption that the winter fuel payment qualifying age would increase and therefore there are no savings associated with this change.

Winter Fuel Payments: Overseas Residence

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many overseas-based pensioners received winter fuel allowance in 2008-09.

Angela Eagle: 64,000 pensioners based overseas received a winter fuel allowance in 2008-09.
	 Notes:
	Data are rounded to the nearest 1000.
	 Source:
	Winter Fuel Payment datasets

Winter Fuel Payments: Overseas Residence

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if she will take steps to restrict eligibility for pensioners' winter fuel allowance to those pensioners living in the UK and countries with similar or colder climates.

Angela Eagle: Under European law some benefits acquired in one member state must be paid to people who live outside that state but within the European economic area (EEA). To comply with this law winter fuel payments are paid to former UK residents living elsewhere in the EEA if they qualified for a payment before leaving the UK.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Departmental Travel

Justine Greening: To ask the Solicitor-General how much the Law Officers' Departments spent on  (a) car hire,  (b) train travel,  (c) air travel,  (d) hotels and  (e) restaurant meals for (i) Ministers and (ii) staff in the Law Officers' Departments in each of the last five years.

Vera Baird: Treasury Solicitors (including AGO and HMCPSI) has spent the following on travel and subsistence in each of the last five years
	
		
			  Year ending 31 March  Treasury Solicitor's (£)  AGO (£)  HMCPSI (£)  Total (£000) 
			 2005 419,841 77,068 144,746 641,655 
			 2006 486,821 112,103 141,995 740,919 
			 2007 416,544 143,943 166,796 727,283 
			 2008 525,616 84,126 137,003 746,744 
			 2009 362,159 66,825 111,311 540,295 
		
	
	TSol spend includes case related Travel and Subsistence which is recharged to clients on a cost recovery basis.
	It is not possible to provide an analysis of this expenditure for each of the categories without the disproportionate cost threshold.
	
		
			  Revenue and Customs Prosecution Office (RCPO) 
			  £ 
			   2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09  2009-10( 1) 
			 Air fares - 32,539 73,160 41,058 17,400 
			 Hotels 3,359 52,460 86,312 69,607 24,667 
			 Rail tickets 223,100 109,418 167,860 194,930 65,352 
			 Vehicle hire 4,075 4,268 2,713 950 667 
			 Total 230,534 198,684 330,045 306,545 108,086 
			 (1) 2009-10 figures represent April 2009-September 2009. 
		
	
	RCPO does not identify separately expenditure on restaurant meals.
	
		
			  Serious Fraud Office 
			  £ 
			  Financial year  (a) Car hire  (b) Train travel  (c) Air travel  (d) Hotels  (e) Restaurant meals 
			 2005-06 37,969 101,404 216,061 142,225 4,064 
			 2006-07 48,053 93,845 167,842 318,761 6,154 
			 2007-08 35,905 80,247 308,282 202,592 6,372 
			 2008-09 32,781 139,947 338,993 243,973 8,650 
			 1 April 2009-30 September 2009(1) 8,562 56,464 63,157 93,601 3,863 
			 (1) The last date for which figures are available. 
		
	
	Information is not available in comparable form for 2004-05. The figures for restaurant meals also cover working lunches and refreshments and are thus overstated: a separate breakdown is not readily available.
	The Government publish, on an annual basis, the total costs of all ministerial overseas travel costing in excess of £500. The 2008-09 list was published on 16 July and can be viewed at:
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/propriety_and_ethics/ministers/travel_gifts.aspx.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Causeway Hospital: Prison Escapes

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what changes have been made to the procedures being used by the Prison Service in Northern Ireland following the review into the escape of a prisoner from the Causeway hospital on 15 April 2008.

Paul Goggins: Following a brief escape of a prisoner awaiting treatment at the Causeway hospital, a senior prison governor carried out a comprehensive investigation.
	The investigation identified a number of shortcomings in the management of the escort and made recommendations for staff to be reminded of the correct procedures. It was concluded there was, however, no need to change the procedures themselves.

Prisons: Drugs

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress is being made in reducing the availability of illegal drugs in each prison in Northern Ireland.

Paul Goggins: The Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS) takes very seriously its responsibility to stop illegal drugs entering establishments. Visitors, staff and others are required to undergo a rub-down search, and items brought into prisons are subject to a Rapiscan search. A passive drugs dog is used to screen visitors to prisoners before admission to the visits room. Prisoners entering or leaving the visits room are subject to either a rub-down or full search; the latter requires removal of clothing. CCTV operates in all visits rooms, and includes the use of new CCTV equipment at Maghaberry. Supervisory staff patrol the visits room with modern, discreet communication links to the CCTV operator. Searching takes place regularly throughout establishments including active search dogs trained to detect secreted drugs.
	This year NIPS introduced new procedures for management of prisoners' private cash. Co-operation between NIPS and PSNI has increased with a better flow of intelligence and targeted searching of visitors and accommodation areas. Revised Prison Rules will be introduced by the year end to facilitate mandatory drug testing of all prisoners using new saliva testing procedures to replace the current urine test. Governors will have delegated authority to ban visitors and impose closed visits on prisoners and visitors who abuse the visiting arrangements.

TRANSPORT

Airports: Thames Estuary

Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport whether he has received representations from the Mayor of London on the construction of an airport in the Thames Estuary.

Paul Clark: holding answer 15 October 2009
	Ministers in the Department for Transport have not received any formal or substantive representations on this matter from the Mayor of London, but are familiar with his views on it, which have been widely reported. The Mayor has raised the subject at various meetings with the Secretary of State for Transport and his predecessors, but no substantive or costed proposal has been put forward.

Aviation: Health Hazards

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many UK-based pilots have reported to his Department symptoms of neurological damage alleged to have arisen from aerotoxic syndrome.

Paul Clark: We have received correspondence from a very small number of pilots who consider they have received neurological damage in the course of their work but the Department for Transport does not operate a reporting system for pilot fitness.

Aviation: Waltham Forest

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what change in the number of aircraft flying over Waltham Forest has resulted from the increased number of flights from City Airport.

Paul Clark: The Department for Transport does not hold this information. The air traffic management aspects of implementing the increase in the number of annual flights at London City Airport approved in October 2008 by the London Borough of Newham are an operational matter for NATS, regulated by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). However, CAA statistics indicate that the number of air traffic movements to and from London City Airport have fallen in recent months compared to the previous year's figures.
	
		
			  London City: Air transport movements (ATMs) per month (including percentage change over previous year) 2009 
			   Number  Percentage change 
			 January 5,861 -12 
			 February 5,688 -8 
			 March 6,586 -1 
			 April 5,792 -24 
			 May 5,809 -20 
			 June 5,903 -21 
			 July 5,456 -27 
			 August (1)4,558 -30.5 
			 (1) CAA provisional statistics

Aviation: Waltham Forest

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what change there has been to the number of aircraft flying over Waltham Forest which have taken off from or are landing at Heathrow airport in the last 12 month period for which figures are available.

Paul Clark: According to available Civil Aviation Authority data, in August 2008 there were approximately 41,000 aircraft movements (arrivals and departures) at Heathrow airport, of which approximately 7,600 passed over Waltham Forest. The vast majority of these were arrivals. In August 2009, there were approximately 39,800 aircraft movements at Heathrow airport of which approximately 6,600 passed over Waltham Forest.

Bus Services: Concessions

Natascha Engel: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many people in  (a) Derbyshire and  (b) North East Derbyshire have received free bus travel under the national concessionary bus fares scheme.

Sadiq Khan: The Department for Transport is not responsible for issuing passes and so does not maintain records of how many passes individual authorities have issued.
	North East Derbyshire is part of the Derbyshire County concessionary travel scheme. The last information held by the Department was that as of 17 April 2009, the Derbyshire County scheme had issued 227,472 of the new smartcard concessionary passes. This includes passes issued to disabled people as well as those aged 60 and over.

Buses: York

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what the percentage change in levels of bus usage in  (a) England,  (b) Yorkshire and the Humber and  (c) the City of York was in each year since 1996-97.

Sadiq Khan: Between 1996-97 and 2007-08 (the latest year for which figures are currently available) the number of local bus passenger journeys in England increased by 18 per cent. Over the same period the number of local bus passenger journeys in Yorkshire and the Humber decreased by 13 per cent.
	Owing to the small number of bus operators present in the area, figures for the City of York are commercially confidential and therefore cannot be published.
	Figures for each year can be found in the following table:
	
		
			  Passenger journeys( 1)  for Yorkshire and Humberside and England, 1996-97 to 2007-08 
			  Million 
			   1996-97  1997-98  1998-99  1999-00  2000-01  2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			  England 
			 Passenger journeys 3,844 3,859 3,808 3,804 3,842 3,881 3,964 4,087 4,140 4,196 4,470 4,530 
			 Percentage change - 0.4 -1.3 -0.1 1.0 1.0 2.1 3.1 1.3 1.4 6.5 1.3 
			  
			  Yorkshire and the Humber 
			 Passenger journeys 431 419 394 398 397 387 388 376 358 362 381 374 
			 Percentage change - -2.8 -6.0 1.0 -0.3 -2.5 0.3 -3.1 -4.8 1.1 5.2 -1.8 
			 (1) Each boarding of the vehicle is counted as one journey.  Source: DFT Survey of Bus Operators

Crossrail Line

Lee Scott: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many of his Department's staff have been allocated to work on Crossrail in each year since 2000.

Sadiq Khan: Records are not kept in the specific format required to derive the answer to this question. However, the following table provides details of the approximate number of departmental staff from the Department for Transport and relevant Departments prior to its establishment in 2002, who worked primarily on Crossrail at some point during each year since 2000 based on best estimates:
	
		
			  Total number of Department for Transport staff who worked primarily on Crossrail 
			   Number 
			 2000 0 
			 2001 0 
			 2002 0 
			 2003 3 
			 2004 6 
			 2005 15 
			 2006 13 
			 2007 14 
			 2008 21 
			 2009 10 
		
	
	The figures shown do not include staff numbers from Transport for London, the Department for Transport's co-sponsor in the scheme, or at Crossrail Limited (formerly Cross London Rail Links), the Project Delivery Body.

Departmental Manpower

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many officials in his Department have worked on matters relating to  (a) road works,  (b) traffic lights and (c) parking enforcement on private property in each year since 2000.

Sadiq Khan: A wide range of officials in the central Department for Transport and its agencies have contributed to policy developments and projects relating to these matters. The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Manpower

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many officials in his Department have worked on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link project in each year since 1997.

Chris Mole: The Department for Transport does not have records of the number of officials who have worked on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link project as far back as 1997. However we do have figures for the number of full-time equivalents from 2002 as follows:
	2002 to mid-2005 inclusive: Five
	Mid-2005 to 2007: Three
	2008 to date: Two.
	These figures relate to the delivery phase of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link.

Departmental Telephone Services

Mark Oaten: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many helplines his Department operates; and how much his Department has received from the operation of such helplines in each of the last three years.

Chris Mole: The Department for Transport and its agencies do not operate any helplines.

First TransPennine Express: Standards

Graham Stringer: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what plans he has to improve the TransPennine peak time train service between Manchester and  (a) Sheffield,  (b) Stockport,  (c) Stalybridge,  (d) West Yorkshire,  (e) Salford,  (f) Bolton and  (g) Warrington.

Chris Mole: holding answer 26 October 2009
	The Government's plans for further electrification of the network will lead to the introduction of additional electric trains. This will in turn allow the redeployment of existing diesel trains to provide additional capacity on TransPennine services and it is anticipated that this will occur by 2014.

Heathrow Airport

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what changes to the flight paths of aircraft  (a) taking off from and  (b) landing at Heathrow Airport there have been in the last 12 month period for which figures are available.

Paul Clark: According to the Civil Aviation Authority there have been no changes to the airspace structure or arrival/departure procedures associated with London Heathrow in the last 12 months.

Parking

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport whether his Department has assessed the effect of restrictions on off-street parking spaces in new residential developments on the  (a) availability and  (b) accessibility of on-street parking.

Sadiq Khan: There is extensive research on car parking. In May 2007 for example the Department of Communities and Local Government published residential car parking research, which addressed the availability of on- and off-street parking in residential developments and the efficiency of allocating spaces to dwellings. It concluded that well-designed on-street parking in residential areas can make a valuable and flexible contribution to the overall supply of parking.
	The full report can be found at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/planningandbuilding/residentialcarparking
	The 'Manual for Streets' also explains the efficiency benefits of unallocated car parking and the need to meet at least some of the normal demand on the street. This can be found at:
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/sustainable/manforstreets/

Railways: Freight

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport whether his Department has  (a) undertaken and  (b) commissioned research into the likely consequences of the introduction of a freight subsidy for the quantity of goods carried by rail.

Chris Mole: The current rail environmental benefit procurement scheme has two components that provide revenue support for rail freight based upon the amount of lorries removed from the roads. The Department for Transport has reviewed both of the rail freight support schemes over the last two years. Consequently we are continuing with the well established freight facilities grant scheme and have secured European state aids clearance for the introduction of a revised revenue support scheme from April next year called mode shift revenue support. Both of the schemes are designed to help rail freight compete more effectively with road transport and to increase the quantity of goods transported by rail.

Railways: Penalty Fares

John Stanley: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport if he will place  (a) in the Library and  (b) on his Department's website copies of his Department's correspondence with (i) Passenger Focus and (ii) London Travel Watch relating to his Department's consultation with the rail industry on penalty fares.

Chris Mole: Correspondence with Passenger Focus and London TravelWatch on the Penalty Fares Rules and Penalty Fares Policy will be published on the Department for Transport's website and placed in the Libraries of the House after the consultation process has been completed.

Railways: Staffordshire

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what estimate he has made of the average number of passengers on rail services in Staffordshire in each of the last two years.

Chris Mole: The Department for Transport does not hold this information. The Office of Rail Regulation does however publish regional passenger flows in the National Rail Trends Yearbook editions, which are available in the House Libraries or from their website:
	www.rail-reg.gov.uk

Road Signs and Markings: Research

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport whether his Department conducts regular research on public awareness and understanding of traffic signs and symbols.

Sadiq Khan: Familiarity and understanding of traffic signs are an integral part of the theory and practical driving test.
	The Department for Transport last conducted research on wider understanding of traffic signs in 2003. An earlier study was carried out in 1985. The results of the most recent study were published in a report entitled "Increasing Understanding of Traffic Signs" in March 2004. A further research project has been agreed to inform the ongoing traffic signs policy review. We plan to commission this work later this year.

Road Signs and Markings: Reviews

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport when his Department last conducted a review of traffic signage rules.

Sadiq Khan: The last review of traffic signing rules resulted in the current Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions, which came into force in January 2003. In September 2008 the Department for Transport announced the start of a root and branch review of traffic signing policy in Great Britain. The ongoing review has already led to a number of proposed regulatory amendments, on which we are currently consulting. We expect one of the final review outcomes to be a comprehensive package of revised regulations.

Road Traffic Control

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what sanctions have been applied to highways authorities found to be in breach of the duty to ensure the expeditious movement of traffic under the Traffic Management Act 2004.

Sadiq Khan: I refer the hon. Member to the answer of 16 September 2009,  Official Report, column 2281W, which informed her that no intervention notices under section 20 of the Traffic Management Act 2004 have been issued. Therefore, the associated intervention powers provided by that Act have not been applied to highway authorities.

Roads: Accidents

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport in what proportion of motorway collisions driving too close to the vehicle in front given the speed of the vehicle has been a factor in the cause of the collision in each of the last five years.

Paul Clark: Contributory factors data in reported road accidents are only available since 2005. The information requested is given in the table:
	
		
			  Percentage( 1 ) of reported road accidents on motorways, where "Following too close" was attributed as a contributory factor, Great Britain, 2005-08 
			   Percentage of accidents 
			 2005 18 
			 2006 16 
			 2007 16 
			 2008 16 
			 (1 )Includes only accidents where a police officer attended the scene and in which a contributory factor was reported.

Roads: Finance

Richard Spring: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much his Department spent per capita on  (a) highways and  (b) other roads in (i) Suffolk, (ii) the East of England and (iii) nationally in each of the last five years.

Sadiq Khan: The information is not available in the form requested.
	Funding for investment, maintenance and operation of strategic roads is the responsibility of the Highways Agency (HA). The HA's reporting systems do not record actual expenditure for local authority areas; expenditure is recorded by project and activity. Estimates are compiled for regional expenditure to supplement data reported in the Department for Transport's annual report. Details of Highways Agency expenditure are included in their annual report which is available in the Library of the House.
	The development and improvement of non-strategic roads in England is the responsibility of the relevant local transport authority. The Department allocates block funding to local transport authorities outside London for capital investment in transport improvement and maintenance projects. This funding is not ring-fenced and local authorities have discretion to spend their allocations in line with their priorities.
	There is additional funding available for detrunked roads and road safety schemes. The following table shows the allocations for England (excluding London), the East of England and Suffolk in each of the last five years for these categories.
	
		
			   £ million  
			   Capital funding for non strategic roads  Funding for road safety and detrunked roads  Total funding  Per c apita spend (£) 
			  Suffolk 
			 2008-09 21.545 4.819 26.364 36.821 
			 2007-08 21.845 6.193 28.038 39.546 
			 2006-07 17.610 3.728 21.338 30.396 
			 2005-06 22.624 3.586 26.210 37.658 
			 2004-05 22.230 3.145 25.375 36.936 
			  
			  East of England 
			 2008-09 157.791 28.422 186.213 32.504 
			 2007-08 159.476 32.221 191.697 33.863 
			 2006-07 152.826 18.733 171.559 30.603 
			 2005-06 156.899 10.225 167.124 30.042 
			 2004-05 156.586 9.839 166.425 30.199 
			  England (excludes London) 
			 2008-09 1,280.000 183.691 1,463.691 33.398 
			 2007-08 1,254.000 181.936 1,435.936 32.983 
			 2006-07 1,218.871 83.716 1,302.587 30.117 
			 2005-06 1,215.285 80.358 1,295.643 30.125 
			 2004-05 1,308.411 63.509 1,371.920 32.113 
		
	
	In addition over £118 million was provided for local major road projects in the East of England over this five year period. For Suffolk specifically the Department contributed £29.621 million towards the South Lowestoft Relief Road and £12 million towards the B1115 Stowmarket Relief Road.
	Revenue expenditure on transport is generally supported through the Department for Communities and Local Government's formula grant. Transport for London are directly responsible for London's strategic roads and receive financial support from the Government's Greater London Authority Transport Grant.

Transport: Infrastructure

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much is budgeted to be spent from the public purse on transport infrastructure improvements in  (a) the South West and  (b) Dorset in 2009-10.

Sadiq Khan: A budget for total Department for Transport expenditure on transport infrastructure improvements by region is not available. The following figures show allocations of local and regional funding for combined spend on the Integrated Transport Block (generally schemes costing less than £5 million) and highway maintenance, and Major schemes (generally schemes costing more than £5 million).
	 South West
	Major schemes: £92 million
	Integrated Transport Block and highway maintenance: £175 million
	 Dorset
	Major schemes: £32 million
	Integrated Transport Block and highway maintenance: £19 million
	The Department spends funds on the strategic road network through the Highways Agency (HA). The HA's reporting systems do not record actual expenditure for local authority areas; expenditure is recorded by project and activity.

Tunnels: Mobile Phones

Greg Knight: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what studies his Department has made of mobile telephone coverage in road and rail tunnels; and how many road and rail tunnels are equipped with GSM transceivers.

Chris Mole: The Department for Transport has not conducted studies on mobile phone coverage in tunnels.
	The Heathrow Express rail service does offer uninterrupted mobile coverage in its tunnel sections. However in general rail tunnels are not equipped with GSM transceivers.
	Most existing Highways Agency tunnels have Airwave transmission to support emergency services and traffic officer communications. Where provision is made for public mobile phone coverage in tunnels, suitable agreements are required with the individual mobile phone operators.
	For new, longer Highways Agency road tunnels such as at Hindhead, and where tunnels are currently being upgraded such as on the A1 (M) at Hatfield, the infrastructure is being provided to support mobile phone usage. Mobile phone coverage is also available in both bores of the Dartford tunnel. For shorter tunnels generally the mobile phone signal spills through the portal enabling reception in most of the tunnel.
	The management of the local road network in England is the responsibility of local highway authorities. Data on how many road tunnels on local roads in England are equipped with GSM transceivers are not held centrally.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Agriculture: Environment Protection

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he is taking to reduce levels of  (a) greenhouse gas emissions and  (b) biodiversity loss arising from intensive farming practices; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The UK Low Carbon Transition Plan published on 15 July is the most systematic response to climate change of any major developed economy, setting out the Government's approach to securing reductions from the agriculture sector. It challenges the English farming industry to develop a voluntary plan to deliver three million tonnes CO2 of emissions savings from livestock and fertiliser-which will reduce emissions in English agriculture by about 10 per cent. by 2020.
	To achieve this, Government will be supporting farmers to take action by ensuring they have access to a comprehensive low-carbon advisory service; continuing our support for Anaerobic Digestion; improving the national inventory for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from farming; and working with the Carbon Trust to make farming businesses eligible for its interest-free loans for low-carbon activity.
	The Plan commits Government to review progress on the voluntary plan by 2012 and intervene if the voluntary plan is failing to deliver. Government will publish its options for intervention in its Carbon Reduction Delivery Plan in spring 2010.
	We have also worked closely with the dairy sector to produce a Dairy Roadmap to develop opportunities to mitigate climate change impacts and assess the positive benefits to the landscape and biodiversity of cattle husbandry. A Beef and Lamb Roadmap is now being developed by the industry with DEFRA support and the newly formed Pig Meat Supply Chain Task Force will be working with the industry's Pig Environment Partnership to deliver similar roadmap for the pig sector.
	Agriculture can have both positive and negative impacts on biodiversity. These effects are monitored through a variety of sources. These include the Farmland Birds Index, which represents a general indicator of the state of the farmed environment, research and analyses through the Agricultural Change and Environment Observatory and the continued development of Environmental Accounts for Agriculture. The aim is to quantify and value the full range of impacts using the best available evidence from a range of sources to help inform policy responses.
	Policy mechanisms include regulation and incentives, as well as providing information and advice to farmers on how to improve their environmental performance. Earlier this year there was a review of baseline standards in cross compliance that farmers have to meet as a condition of the Single Payment Scheme. Cross compliance protects a variety of habitat features and in future will place greater emphasis on protecting water resources and water quality. These standards are complemented by our agri-environment schemes such as Environmental Stewardship which reward farmers for positive habitat management.
	Environmental Stewardship has recently been reviewed resulting in new options to further encourage farmers to manage their land in an environmentally friendly way and an overarching climate change theme. In particular there will be a new component specifically designed for uplands farmers which will be launched in January 2010. Our agri-environment schemes have been popular and successful with 65.8 per cent. of farmland currently under agreement. Natural England has a target to increase the coverage of the schemes to 70 per cent. by March 2011.

Agriculture: Subsidies

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many individuals have been paid £200,000 or more under the single farm payment scheme in each year for which figures are available; and how much was paid to each such recipient in each such year.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The overall Single Payment Scheme (SPS) payments made to individuals who received £200,000 or more in the last three years and total amounts are reflected in the following table. The details for each recipient will be placed in the House Library.
	
		
			  SPS year  Individuals  Total amount paid (£)( 1) 
			 2006 344 119,795,387.90 
			 2007 309 107,022,405.65 
			 2008(2) 378 120,664,553.45 
			 (1) The total payment value for each year does not account for any additional payments made as a result of any modulation refund due to individuals. (2) This line reflects the 2008 claim payments made to date. The Rural Payments Agency continues to work on a small number of applications that are not yet validated for full payment.

Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of the sum approved by the European Commission Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health for implementation of the Bovine Tuberculosis Eradication Programme will be available to tackle bovine tuberculosis in Wales.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The money will be split between England, Wales and Northern Ireland and the division of the funding has yet to be agreed.

Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what conditions govern the use of the grant provided by the European Commission Standing Committee on Food Chain and Animal Health for implementation of the Bovine Tuberculosis Eradication Programme.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The European Commission Decision that was approved by the Standing Committee allows allocated EU funding to be used to reimburse member states for three measures: the costs of tuberculin testing, gamma interferon blood testing and compensation for cattle slaughtered.
	The Decision sets out the maximum of the costs that member states can claim for each:
	tuberculin test: €1.75 per test
	gamma-interferon test: €5 per test
	compensation: €375 per animal.

Climate Change: Farming

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research his Department has commissioned on the effect of farming methods on climate change.

Jim Fitzpatrick: DEFRA has commissioned a number of studies, some of which are ongoing, to assess the environmental impacts of greenhouse gas emissions from several agricultural commodities throughout their lifecycle. This includes assessment of commodities produced in different farming systems (including organic). The most relevant studies are listed as follows:
	Project AC020: A study of the scope for the application of research in animal genomics and breeding to reduce nitrogen and methane emissions from livestock based food chains-published in April 2008.
	Project AC020: Developing technologies to improve the fertility of dairy cows-published in January 2008.
	Project AC0206: Agriculture and climate change: turning results into practical action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions-A review-published in July 2007.
	Project AC0207: The translation of existing research outputs into actions that reduce pollution gas emissions from agriculture-due for imminent completion.
	Project AC0208: The limits to a sustainable livestock sector in the UK-due for imminent completion.
	Project AC0209: Ruminant nutrition regimes to reduce methane and nitrogen emissions-due for completion in March 2010.
	Project IS0205: Determining the environmental burdens and resource use in the production of agricultural and horticultural commodities-published in August 2005.
	Project IS0222: Developing and delivering environmental Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) of agricultural systems-due to be completed in September 2010.
	Project AC0210: Economic and environmental impacts of livestock production in the UK-due to be completed in July 2010.
	Project AC0214: Roadmaps integrating RTD in developing realistic GHG mitigation options from agriculture up to 2030-due for imminent completion.
	Project AC0216: Review of the Marginal Abatement Cost Curves for Agriculture produced for the Committee on Climate Change-due for imminent completion.
	Project AC0219: Methane emissions by individual dairy cows under commercial conditions-due to be completed in March 2010
	Project AC0310. Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation-a Risk Based Approach-due for completion in April 2010.
	Project AC0406: The optimisation and impacts of expanding biogas production-due for completion in January 2010.
	Project WQ0106: Quantitative Assessment of Scenarios for Managing Trade-Off Between Economics, Environment and Media-completed 2009.

Iraq Committee of Inquiry

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether he has received a request to give evidence to the Chilcot Inquiry.

Hilary Benn: I refer to the Prime Minister's answer on 9 October 2009,  Official Report, column 1210W.

Noise

Tony Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on what date his Department first proposed that a neighbourhood noise strategy would be published; and when he now expects the strategy to be published.

Jim Fitzpatrick: In December 2002, the Government noted that there was a need for a Neighbour Noise strategy to compliment the support that had been received for developing an Ambient Noise strategy. Subsequently, it was agreed that it would be sensible to combine the proposed ambient and neighbourhood strategies into a single strategy addressing environmental, neighbour and neighbourhood noise.
	However, 2002 was also the year that the environmental noise directive (END) became law, and its implementation has had to be the Department's main focus of activity regarding noise. In meeting the requirements of the END, we are now progressing noise action plans, and this is helping to refine existing policy as evidence on the effects of noise continues to emerge.
	The Government are in the process of consolidating, for all sources of noise, their longer term noise management policies, some of which can be found in the draft noise action plans, and determining how these could be best delivered.

Rights of Way: Yorkshire and the Humber

Denis MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to what percentage of the coastline of the Yorkshire and the Humber region the right of public access is legally secure.

Huw Irranca-Davies: In the Yorkshire and the Humber region, 70 per cent. (approximately 122 miles) of the coast has legally secure access on existing public rights of way. This includes access by public footpath, road and promenade.

Sheep: Tagging

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will assess the merits of providing funding from the public purse for the purchase of electronic readers and software by livestock producers required to comply with electronic sheep tagging regulations.

Jim Fitzpatrick: DEFRA has no plans to fund any equipment or software required for compliance with electronic sheep tagging regulations (EID). However, some rural development funding may be available to support training for livestock producers to help prepare them for EID implementation, where such purposes are in line with regionally determined priorities.

Water Supply

Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent representations his Department has received on low water pressure.

Huw Irranca-Davies: DEFRA has not received any recent representations on low water pressure.
	However, since 1 April 2008, Ofwat, the independent economic regulator for the water industry, has received three representations on the subject, and the Consumer Council for Water has received 595.

DEFENCE

Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many service personnel have lost  (a) eyes,  (b) their sight and  (c) one or more limbs as a result of injuries sustained in operations in Afghanistan in each month since January 2008.

Kevan Jones: The information provided in the following table summarises live UK service personnel who have an injury coded as a traumatic or surgical amputation, partial or complete, for either upper or lower limbs. This could range from the loss of part of a finger or toe up to the loss of an entire limb or limbs, between 1 January 2008 and 30 September 2009 as a result of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq combined. Those classified as "significant multiple amputees" have suffered amputations above the wrist or ankle on more than one limb.
	
		
			  Period  Total limb amputees  Of which :  significant multiple amputees 
			 January 2008 to December 2008 27 6 
			 January 2009 to September 2009 32 13 
			 Total 55 19 
		
	
	Numbers are released in accordance with Office for National Statistics guidance, so that when small numbers of patients are concerned, these are suppressed to protect patient confidentiality. In each case, owing to the small numbers involved, it is not possible to present meaningful data on a monthly basis.
	The most complete data currently available for injuries to the eye cover the period 19 July 2004 to 14 July 2008. In this four-year period, 62 casualties from Op Herrick sustained eye injuries, of which 15 lost sight in one or both eyes to a level of visual acuity less than 6/60. More recent data have yet to be validated.
	In addition to the above, between 1 April 2006 and 30 June 2009, the number of UK service casualties who have been registered as severely sight impaired (SSI), i.e. effectively blind, from Op Herrick is less than five. The actual number is not released in order to avoid compromising individual patient details in circumstances where small numbers of patients are involved.

Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what fixed-wing Royal Air Force aircraft are deployed in Afghanistan.

Bill Rammell: The fixed-wing manned aircraft currently based in Afghanistan are the GR4 Tornado and the C-130 Hercules. There are eight Tornados and four Hercules based in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many civilian contractors working for his Department are based in Afghanistan to provide support and maintenance for vehicles purchased as urgent operational requirements.

Quentin Davies: As at 22 October 2009, there were 13 field support representatives (civilian contractor staff) based in Afghanistan providing support and maintenance for vehicles purchased as urgent operational requirements.

Armed Forces: Dental Services

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make an assessment of the performance of mobile dental facilities introduced for service personnel in December 2008.

Kevan Jones: The Defence Dental Services did not introduce any new mobile dental facilities for military personnel in December 2008. Where fixed dental surgeries are not available, the three armed forces dental branches have used portable dental units for the last 30 years or more. They are mainly employed on land operations or on smaller HM ships that do not routinely carry a dental team. The Royal Naval Dental Services have also used mobile dental surgeries in HM dockyards for many years. These mobile dental facilities are currently being refurbished.
	More generally, the Service Personnel Command Paper (Cm 7424) noted the problems encountered by service families in accessing dental services, and stated that the Government would address these in a variety of ways, including the provision of mobile services. However, when considering a suitable location for trialling mobile services, it became clear that there was a lack of information about the real extent of difficulties in getting access to dentistry, and most reported cases could be resolved through advice and advocacy from local service and welfare organisations. The Ministry of Defence and the Department of Health concluded there was no requirement for a trial at this time, but work continues to gather evidence of any geographical problems, and should the need for mobile services become apparent this solution will be reconsidered.

Armed Forces: Disciplinary Proceedings

Joan Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he has taken to ensure that internal disciplinary proceedings and findings of the Service Justice System, including proceedings which have taken place outside the UK, are taken into account.

Kevan Jones: Existing service justice system processes already inform the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) of appropriate findings both within and outside the UK. This procedure will continue. With compulsory Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) registration and monitoring not effective until November 2010, the implications for the services of this aspect of the Vetting and Barring Scheme are still being developed. To that end, we continue to work closely with both the ISA and CRB.

Armed Forces: Families

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many military personnel stationed at each base in  (a) the UK and  (b) abroad of the (i) Army, (ii) Navy and (iii) Royal Air Force; which of these bases has an officer in charge of families; and what recreational, social, medical and educational facilities are available at each base for forces families.

Kevan Jones: There are well over a thousand locations in the UK and around the world where armed forces personnel and their families are based. To list the numbers of personnel and the facilities available at each could be done only at disproportionate cost. Each base has personnel who, as part of their duties, are responsible for the welfare of service personnel and their families. Facilities available include a wide range of services from HIVE information services, dedicated sports and recreational facilities, community centres, crèches to numerous social and special interest clubs.

Armed Forces: Families

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a copy of the minutes of all meetings of the Families Working Group held in  (a) 2008 and  (b) 2009 to date.

Kevan Jones: The minutes of the Families Working Group held in 2008 and 2009 will be placed in the Library of the House shortly. These documents will be reproduced in full other than the names of individuals which will be redacted according to normal practice.

Armed Forces: Health Services

Joan Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what date he appointed the Defence Medical Inspector General; on what date he expects the Inspector to publish his first annual report; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the report on publication.

Kevan Jones: The Defence Medical Services' Inspector General (IG) post was created early in 2008. Its first incumbent, Surg RAdm Philip Raffaelli, was succeeded by the current post holder, Air Cdre Aroop Mozumder, on 8 July 2009. The IG's principal role is to provide the Surgeon General with an efficient and effective healthcare and corporate governance assurance framework and to oversee this process.
	The IG will produce an annual report of activity in summer 2010 which will be placed in the Library of the House.

Armed Forces: Housing

Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 19 October 2009,  Official Report, column 1219W, on armed forces: housing, how many units of substitute service accommodation there are in each region.

Kevan Jones: The following tables list the number and location of all substitute service family accommodation (SSFA) and substitute service single accommodation (SSSA).
	
		
			  SSFA 
			  Location  Number of properties 
			 Aberdeen 2 
			 Birmingham 109 
			 Bath 22 
			 Blackburn 5 
			 Bradford 1 
			 Bournemouth 29 
			 Bolton 8 
			 Brighton 4 
			 Bromley 1 
			 Bristol 13 
			 Carlisle 4 
			 Cambridge 20 
			 Cardiff 13 
			 Chester 7 
			 Chelmsford 9 
			 Colchester 2 
			 Croydon 3 
			 Canterbury 4 
			 Coventry 24 
			 Crewe 1 
			 Dundee 3 
			 Derby 2 
			 Dumfries 2 
			 Durham 5 
			 Darlington 34 
			 Doncaster 3 
			 Dorchester 29 
			 Dudley 2 
			 London E 3 
			 Exeter 26 
			 Falkirk 11 
			 Glasgow 8 
			 Gloucester 10 
			 Guildford 18 
			 Harrow 17 
			 Huddersfield 2 
			 Harrogate 1 
			 Hemel Hempstead 128 
			 Hereford 96 
			 Hull 9 
			 Halifax 4 
			 Ipswich 9 
			 Kilmarnock 3 
			 Kensington Upon Thames 5 
			 Liverpool 18 
			 Lancaster 14 
			 Llandrindod Wells 2 
			 Leicester 7 
			 Llandudno 12 
			 Leeds 8 
			 Luton 5 
			 Manchester 4 
			 Milton Keynes 10 
			 London N 3 
			 Newcastle 5 
			 Nottingham 55 
			 Newport 9 
			 London NW 5 
			 Oldham 4 
			 Oxford 179 
			 Paisley 2 
			 Peterborough 3 
			 Plymouth 94 
			 Portsmouth 18 
			 Preston 10 
			 Reading 4 
			 Redhill 1 
			 Sheffield 11 
			 Swansea 15 
			 London SE 5 
			 Stevenage 3 
			 Stockport 7 
			 Slough 21 
			 Sutton 1 
			 Swindon 24 
			 Southampton 71 
			 Salisbury 56 
			 Sunderland 2 
			 Southend on Sea 1 
			 Stoke on Trent 4 
			 London SW 12 
			 Shrewsbury 6 
			 Taunton 18 
			 Berwick Upon Tweed 3 
			 Tonbridge 6 
			 Torquay 3 
			 Truro 32 
			 Middlesbrough 17 
			 Twickenham 3 
			 Uxbridge 4 
			 London W 12 
			 Warrington 4 
			 Watford 3 
			 Wakefield 1 
			 Wigan 1 
			 Worcester 5 
			 Walsall 1 
			 Wolverhampton 2 
			 York 25 
			 Shetland Islands 1 
			 Total 1,563 
		
	
	
		
			  SSSA 
			  Location  Number of properties 
			 Aberdeen 17 
			 Bath 169 
			 Belfast 3 
			 Berwick upon Tweed 2 
			 Birmingham 271 
			 Blackburn 6 
			 Blackpool 60 
			 Bolton 17 
			 Bournemouth 9 
			 Bradford 2 
			 Brighton 19 
			 Bristol 437 
			 Bromley 7 
			 Cambridge 45 
			 Canterbury 31 
			 Cardiff 52 
			 Carlisle 24 
			 Chelmsford 8 
			 Chester 36 
			 Colchester 132 
			 Coventry 30 
			 Crewe 3 
			 Croydon 9 
			 Darlington 87 
			 Dartford 3 
			 Derby 5 
			 Doncaster 8 
			 Dorchester 10 
			 Dudley 2 
			 Dumfries 3 
			 Dundee 29 
			 Durham 4 
			 Edinburgh 69 
			 Enfield 2 
			 Exeter 36 
			 Falkirk 24 
			 Glasgow 235 
			 Gloucester 39 
			 Guildford 168 
			 Halifax 2 
			 Harrow 11 
			 Harrogate 13 
			 Hemel Hempstead 4 
			 Hereford 146 
			 Huddersfield 2 
			 Hull 82 
			 Ilford 6 
			 Inverness 18 
			 Ipswich 87 
			 Kensington Upon Thames 16 
			 Kilmarnock 39 
			 Kirkcaldy 8 
			 Kirkwall 3 
			 Lancaster 151 
			 Llandrindod Wells 34 
			 Leeds 35 
			 Leicester 24 
			 Lincoln 1 
			 Liverpool 72 
			 Llandudno 42 
			 London E 214 
			 London EC 10 
			 London N 32 
			 London NW 64 
			 London SE 180 
			 London SW 470 
			 London W 72 
			 London WC 1 
			 Luton 17 
			 Manchester 43 
			 Medway 5 
			 Middlesbrough 19 
			 Milton Keynes 33 
			 Motherwell 2 
			 Newcastle 92 
			 Newport 46 
			 Northampton 1 
			 Norwich 7 
			 Nottingham 26 
			 Oldham 3 
			 Oxford 28 
			 Paisley 7 
			 Perth 14 
			 Peterborough 9 
			 Plymouth 31 
			 Portsmouth 57 
			 Preston 47 
			 Reading 17 
			 Redhill 10 
			 Romford 6 
			 Salisbury 122 
			 Sheffield 38 
			 Shrewsbury 7 
			 Slough 23 
			 Southampton 26 
			 Southend On Sea 3 
			 Stevenage 6 
			 Stoke on Trent 13 
			 Stockport 4 
			 Sunderland 4 
			 Sutton 2 
			 Swansea 18 
			 Swindon 86 
			 Taunton 14 
			 Telford 8 
			 Tonbridge 47 
			 Torquay 2 
			 Truro 16 
			 Twickenham 63 
			 Uxbridge 1 
			 Wakefield 15 
			 Walsall 7 
			 Warrington 23 
			 Watford 5 
			 Wigan 3 
			 Wolverhampton 4 
			 Worcester 7 
			 York 61 
			 Total 5,100 
		
	
	The SSFA/SSSA figures represent a snapshot of properties held. The total number of SSFA and SSSA held fluctuates from day to day as leases are terminated or taken on.

Armed Forces: Vetting

Joan Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent progress has been made to ensure that all those whose normal duties involve caring for, training, supervising or being in charge of vulnerable service personnel and those under the age of 18 are subject to monitoring under the provisions of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006.

Kevan Jones: The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 applies to all service personnel who perform 'regulated activity' duties and to which the Act ordinarily applies. Additionally, the Act contains provisions which enable the armed forces to request that those who supervise or train under-18s apply to be registered and monitored under the new Vetting and Barring Scheme (VBS), which was launched on 12 October 2009. To meet the increased safeguards introduced on that date, we have amended our policy and processes.

Armed Forces: Vetting

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether members of the armed forces required to work with recruits under the age of 18 are required to undergo Independent Safeguarding Authority checks.

Kevan Jones: holding answer 26 October 2009
	Yes. Instructors within the Phase 1 and Phase 2 training environment, and their supervisors, will be subject to the Independent Safeguarding Authority registration and monitoring requirements when they become compulsory in November 2010.

Armoured Fighting Vehicles

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will introduce vehicle-mounted radar devices to armed forces vehicles in order to detect improvised explosive devices.

Quentin Davies: A range of equipment is in service to counter the threat from Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and mines, but no single piece of equipment can provide complete protection. While it is impossible to protect troops from every eventuality, we do everything possible to tackle the risks posed by IEDs, both in terms of equipment capability, but also the critical areas of tactics and training. I cannot go into the specific details of technical solutions such as electronic counter-measures as this would, or would be likely to, prejudice the operational security of our armed forces.

Defence Academy: Finance

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the budget of the Defence Academy of the UK was in each year since 2002; and how much the Academy has spent in  (a) England,  (b) Wales,  (c) Northern Ireland,  (d) Scotland and  (e) overseas in each such year.

Bill Rammell: The Defence Academy's Operating cost for each financial year since 2002 is detailed in the following table.
	
		
			  Financial year  Net operating cost after interest (£) 
			 2002-03 98,183,234 
			 2003-04 97,098,893 
			 2004-05 91,389,435 
			 2005-06 128,385,106 
			 2006-07 120,256,279 
			 2007-08 129,695,219 
			 2008-09 128,022,500 
		
	
	The additional information relating to how much the Academy has spent in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland and overseas in each year is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Iraq: Peacekeeping Operations

Lindsay Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his most recent assessment is of the security situation in Iraq; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: While insurgents still mount occasional high-profile attacks, such as the horrific bombings in Baghdad on Sunday, the security situation in Iraq is nonetheless continuing to steadily improve. Levels of violence are substantially less than at the height of the insurgency three years ago, and remain at a level last seen in 2003. South East Iraq, where UK forces operated, remains largely peaceful.

Joint Exercises

Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what recent assessment he has made of the environmental impact of the Joint Warrior military exercises;
	(2)  what steps his Department has taken to minimise the adverse environmental impact of military exercises conducted in Moray Firth.

Bill Rammell: holding answer 26 October 2009
	The Ministry of Defence takes its responsibilities towards the environment very seriously. Prior to Exercise Joint Warrior, the Royal Navy consulted widely with interested parties such as non-governmental organisations, local authorities, various national rural agencies, and landowners. During the planning of the exercise, environmental impact assessments were conducted for all potentially damaging activities. All participants were given extensive briefs on safety and environmental considerations which specified that environmental awareness takes priority over military training objectives, and a precautionary approach is adopted to all aspects of the exercise which may have an environmental impact. Ships remain ready to take immediate action to minimise any risk. Before any active sonar transmissions, a full environmental impact assessment is conducted, look-outs are posted, and equipment is used to listen for marine mammal activity. If marine mammals are detected sonar transmissions are terminated or modified in order to minimise the risk. There are also continual monitoring procedures that ensure compliance with international pollution prevention standards and crews are also trained to manage onboard incidents to minimise environmental impacts. No environmental impact has been reported following the most recent Joint Warrior exercise.

Met Office

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many meetings  (a) he and  (b) his officials have held with the Operational Efficiency Programme project team on the future of the Met Office; and when the next such meeting will take place.

Kevan Jones: The Operational Efficiency Programme (OEP) Met Office Review Group comprises officials from the Ministry of Defence, Shareholder Executive, HM Treasury and the Met Office. The review group meets regularly in undertaking the review. The next review group meeting is schedule for 27 November 2009.
	The Secretary of State for Defence is regularly briefed on the progress of the review.

Met Office

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects to make a statement on the future of the Met Office.

Kevan Jones: The Met Office Operational Efficiency Programme (OEP) Review Group is exploring a number of options, including reviewing Met Office's business model, ownership structure and commercial activities and opportunities.
	An update on the Met Office OEP review will be provided around the pre-Budget report.

Met Office

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will consider the merits of placing responsibility for the commercial operations of the Met Office  (a) within a single Government department and  (b) with a single minister.

Kevan Jones: Met Office is a trading fund of the Ministry of Defence. As the owner, I have day to day ministerial responsibility for the Met Office, including its commercial activities. Ministerial responsibility for the Met Office ultimately rests with the Secretary of State for Defence.
	The Met Office Operational Efficiency Programme Review Group is exploring a number of options, including reviewing Met Office's business model, ownership structure and commercial activities and opportunities. An update on this work will be provided around the pre-Budget report.

Met Office

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans his Department has to meet private sector stakeholders as part of his Department's ongoing review of the Met Office.

Kevan Jones: As the Met Office Operational Efficiency Programme Review Group develop more detailed work over the coming months engagement with the private sector will be considered.

Territorial Army

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Territorial Army members there are in  (a) Lancashire,  (b) the North West and  (c) the UK.

Bill Rammell: The number of Territorial Army (TA) personnel in Lancashire, the North West and the UK as a whole are shown in the following table.
	
		
			   Number of TA personnel 
			 Lancashire 410 
			 North West 1,710 
			 UK 29,400 
		
	
	These figures include those TA personnel mobilised in support of operations.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Regional Spatial Strategy

Edward Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the current timetable is for the revision of regional spatial strategies.

John Denham: Good progress has been made in completing the first round of revisions to the eight Regional Spatial Strategies which cover England.
	To date six regions have published their final revisions as follows:
	12 May 2008: East of England
	21 May 2008: Yorkshire and Humber
	15 July 2008: North East
	30 September 2008: North West
	12 March 2009: East Midlands
	6 April 2009: South East.
	The west midlands is taking a phased approach to the revision of its RSS:
	Phase 1 covering the black country was finalised on 15 January 2008.
	Phase 2 which covers wider housing issues among other things has been through an examination in public and I am currently considering the panel's report published in September. I expect to consult on any proposed changes in the new year and publish the final plan later in 2010.
	The south west RSS was due to be published last summer. However in the light of a legal judgment on sustainability appraisal we have agreed to do some further work and consultation and aim to publish it in 2010.

Regional Spatial Strategy

Lorely Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what changes to housing targets in Solihull are to be proposed in the phase 2 revision of the Regional Spatial Strategy for the West Midlands as a result of the report by Nathaniel Lichfield and Partners.

Shahid Malik: The independent panel examining the West Midlands Regional Spatial Strategy has recommended that the housing targets for Solihull should be increased from 7,600 to 10,500. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is now considering his Proposed Changes, which will be published for consultation following completion of sustainability appraisal and habitats regulation assessments.

Council House Building

Jane Kennedy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what rules apply to local authorities in the first and second rounds of the council house building programme.

John Healey: All local housing authorities in England are eligible to bid to the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA). I announced successful round one bids in September; and the deadline for submitting bids in round two is 30 October.

Code For Sustainable Homes

Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what account his Department's Code for Sustainable Homes takes of provision for the offsetting of embodied energy in house building.

John Healey: Embodied energy is addressed in two of the nine categories in the Code for Sustainable Homes:
	the materials category rewards use of construction materials with lower embodied energy; and
	the management category encourages construction sites to measure and reduce energy consumption.

Unitary Authority Status

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will authorise the holding of a local referendum in cases where a shire district or borough council seeks the status of a unitary authority.

Rosie Winterton: The process by which a local authority in a two-tier area can become a unitary authority is set out in Part 1 the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007. It requires one or more local authorities for the whole, or part of an area, to make a unitary proposal in response to an invitation from the Secretary of State.
	The statute does not provide for a referendum.

Business Rates

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will undertake an impact assessment for the 2010 business rates revaluation; and if he will make a statement.

Barbara Follett: Regular revaluations are a standard part of the business rates system and are required by statute. Therefore, no impact assessment has been undertaken by my Department on the overall implementation of the 2010 business rates revaluation. An impact assessment on the proposed transitional arrangements scheme for revaluation 2010 was published on 8 July.

Homelessness Street Counts

Richard Ottaway: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what methodology his Department uses in undertaking homelessness street counts.

Ian Austin: Local authorities evaluate the extent of rough sleeping within their area in accordance with the methodology on street counts set out in CLG's 'Guidance on evaluating the extent of rough sleeping-2007 revision', which was developed in conjunction with the voluntary sector. The total number of rough sleepers found on street counts is published each September.

Rent Equalisation

Stephen Pound: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what his assessment is of the likely effect on social housing tenants of a policy of rent equalisation; and if he will make a statement.

John Healey: Under the Government's established rent restructuring policy established in 2001, rents charged for similar properties in similar areas in the two social housing sectors are expected to converge. It is designed to ensure equality and fairness for tenants in the housing association and local authority sectors.

Aerials: Planning Permission

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what planning controls there are on the erection of mobile telephone masts.

Ian Austin: holding answer 26 October 2009
	Full details of planning policy on telecommunications are set out in planning policy guidance 8.

Business Improvement Districts: Scotland

Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether his Department has responsibility for arrangements for co-ordinating policy on business improvement districts in Scotland with the Scottish Executive.

Barbara Follett: Policy on business rates, including on business improvement districts, is a devolved matter. The Department therefore has no responsibility for arrangements for co-ordinating policy on business improvement districts in Scotland with the Scottish Executive.

Council Housing: Tenants

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 16 October 2009,  Official Report, column 1109W, on council housing: tenants, if he will estimate the number of families required to move home by a local authority following the expiry of the right to statutory succession to a local authority property.

Ian Austin: The Department has no plans to make any such estimate.

Departmental Postal Services

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which companies are under contract to his Department to provide mail services; and when each such contract expires.

Barbara Follett: holding answer 26 October 2009
	Mail services for the Department's Headquarters building are provided under the Integrated Facilities Management contract with MITIE which runs until July 2011. MITIE currently use Royal Mail for despatch of national mail items and Corporate Mailing Services (CMS) for international mail items under sub-contract arrangements they have in place with those companies.

Disabled Facilities Grant

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent estimate he has made of the average time taken by local authorities to deliver projects for  (a) veterans and  (b) other disabled persons funded through the disabled facilities grant.

Ian Austin: holding answer 26 October 2009
	Responsibility for the management and delivery of the programme rests with local housing authorities. As a mandatory grant, Communities and Local Government expects these important services to be prioritised and delivered within the legal time frame. The regulations that govern the disabled facilities grant programme are clear about how long anyone should wait for a grant and are triggered by the receipt of a valid disabled facilities grant application. A decision on whether or not to award the grant must be made within six months. The grant must then be paid by the authority either on completion of the works or by a date specified in the decision letter, whichever is sooner. That date must be no longer than 12 months from the date of the application for grant.

Infrastructure Planning Commission

Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether the Welsh Assembly Government has been consulted on the appointment of any Commissioners to the Infrastructure Planning Commission.

John Healey: We have agreed the following process with the Welsh Assembly Government: Commissioners are recruited through open competition and appointed by the Secretary of State, once appointments are made WAG ministers select a number of appointed Commissioners with an understanding of Welsh issues. At least one of these Commissioners will be involved in considering applications for development wholly or partly in Wales. We intend that this selection will happen early next year following the next round of commissioner recruitment, ahead of 1 March which will be the first date from which the IPC will be able formally to accept applications.

Local Government: Publicity

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether his Department undertook an impact assessment in relation to the changes made to the Code of Conduct on Local Authority Publicity before those changes came into effect; and whether an assessment of the effectiveness of the changes has been undertaken.

Rosie Winterton: As part of the changes to council governance arrangements, in particular the introduction of elected mayors, revisions were made in 2001 to the code of recommended practice on local authority publicity. These are the only changes which have been made to the code to date and have been subject to neither an impact assessment nor a subsequent assessment of effectiveness.
	However, there have been two consultations on whether and how the code might be revised, the latest being earlier this year on which over 300 representations have been received. We will be publishing our response to the consultation later this year, but the representations do not reveal any widespread concern about council freesheets and newsletters.

Local Government: Publicity

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent representations his Department has received on the effects of the operation of local authority newspapers on commercially produced newspapers in the same area.

Rosie Winterton: A representative of the Newspaper Society, which represents and promotes the interests of Britain's regional and local media, wrote to me about this issue in August.
	All council publicity, including newsletters and freesheets, is subject to the code of recommended practice on local authority publicity, to which local authorities must have regard. There have been two consultations on whether and how the code might be revised, the latest being earlier this year. We will be publishing our response to the consultation later this year, but the representations do not reveal any widespread concern about council freesheets and newsletters.

Non-Domestic Rates

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many hereditaments were on the Rating List with special category code  (a) 227,  (b) 226 and  (c) 303 in each of the last five years, according to records held by the Valuation Office Agency.

Barbara Follett: The number of hereditaments in England with a special category (SCAT) code of  (b) 226 (Public Houses/Pub Restaurants (National Scheme))  (a) 227 (Public Houses/Pub Restaurants (Inc. Lodge) (National Scheme)) and  (c) 303 (Wine Bars) as at the appropriate dates is as follows:
	
		
			  England  226  227  303 
			 1 April 2005 47,766 318 999 
			 1 April 2006 47,398 335 1,020 
			 1 April 2007 46,935 341 1,032 
			 1 April 2008 46,417 347 1,023 
			 1 April 2009 45,802 351 1,023

Non-Domestic Rates

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) of 16 October 2009,  Official Report, column 1131W, on non-domestic rates, whether the overall business rate tax yield in 2010-11 will be reduced in cash terms as a consequence of the -1.4 per cent. level of Retail Price Index inflation.

Barbara Follett: holding answer 26 October 2009
	Under schedule 7 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 the increases in the business rates multipliers each year are capped by the previous September's RPI. Under the same legislation, the multipliers will also be adjusted to ensure that the overall tax yield does not increase as a result of the 2010 revaluation. The September 2009 RPI of -1.4 per cent will exert a downward pressure on the multipliers and on 2010-11 rates bills, reducing the overall tax yield in cash terms.
	The five-yearly business rates revaluations make sure each business pays its fair contribution and no more by ensuring the share of the national rates bill paid by any one business reflects changes over time in the value of their property relative to others. The 2010 revaluation will not raise a single extra penny for Government.
	Over a million properties will see their business rate liabilities come down as a result of revaluation. The Government intend to put in place a £2 billion relief scheme to limit the impact on the minority with bill increases. This is on top of the wider support available to help ease business pressures including discounted rate bills for small businesses and deferring tax payments.

Non-Domestic Rates

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) of 16 October 2009,  Official Report, column 1131W, on non-domestic rates, whether he expects the downward pressure on multipliers as a result of the September 2009 Retail Price Index rate to result in an actual reduction in the multiplier of 1.4 per cent. in addition to the decrease in the multiplier due to the 2010 revaluation.

Barbara Follett: holding answer 26 October 2009
	The multipliers are set in accordance with schedule 7 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988. The increases in the small business rate multiplier each year are capped by the previous September's RPI. Under the same legislation, the multipliers will also be adjusted to ensure that the overall tax yield does not increase as a result of the 2010 revaluation.
	The national non-domestic multiplier, as in previous years, will be found by adding to the small business multiplier an amount to recover the cost of the small business rate relief scheme. The Government have no plans to amend the way that the multipliers are calculated.
	The five-yearly business rates revaluations make sure each business pays its fair contribution and no more by ensuring the share of the national rates bill paid by any one business reflects changes over time in the value of their property relative to others. The 2010 revaluation will not raise a single extra penny for Government.
	Over a million properties will see their business rate liabilities come down as a result of revaluation. The Government intend to put in place a £2 billion relief scheme to limit the impact on the minority with bill increases. This is on top of the wider support available to help ease business pressures including discounted rate bills for small businesses and deferring tax payments.

Non-Domestic Rates

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) of 16 October 2009,  Official Report, column 1131W, on non-domestic rates, what the  (a) standard and  (b) small business rate multiplier in 2010-11 in England is; on what date it was set; and whether it incorporates the 1.4 per cent reduction as a consequence of the September Retail Price Index rate.

Barbara Follett: holding answer 26 October 2009
	The multipliers are set in accordance with schedule 7 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988. The increases in the small business rate multiplier each year are capped by the previous September's RPI. Under the same legislation, the multipliers will also be adjusted to ensure that the overall tax yield does not increase as a result of the 2010 revaluation.
	The national non-domestic multiplier, as in previous years, will be found by adding to the small business multiplier an amount to recover the cost of the small business rate relief scheme. The Government have no plans to amend the way that the multipliers are calculated.
	The Department will publish the provisional multipliers in due course and these will be confirmed after the Local Government Settlement is confirmed in the New Year.

Non-Domestic Rates

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) of 16 October 2009,  Official Report, column 1131W, on non-domestic rates, whether the estimate of  (a) 41.3 pence for the small business multiplier in 2010 and  (b) 41.7 pence for the national non-domestic multiplier in 2010 cited on page 7 of his Department's consultation paper on transitional arrangements for the non-domestic rating revaluation 2010 in England will be revised downwards as a consequence of the -1.4 per cent. level of Retail Price Index inflation.

Barbara Follett: holding answer 26 October 2009
	Under schedule 7 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 the increases in the small business rate multiplier each year are capped by the previous September's RPI. Therefore the September 2009 RPI of -1.4 per cent will exert a downward pressure on the multipliers cited in the Department's consultation on transitional arrangements.
	The national non-domestic multiplier, as in previous years, will be found by adding to the small business multiplier an amount to recover the cost of the small business rate relief scheme.
	The five-yearly business rates revaluations make sure each business pays its fair contribution and no more by ensuring the share of the national rates bill paid by any one business reflects changes over time in the value of their property relative to others. The 2010 revaluation will not raise a single extra penny for Government.
	Over a million properties will see their business rate liabilities come down as a result of revaluation. The Government intend to put in place a £2 billion relief scheme to limit the impact on the minority with bill increases. This is on top of the wider support available to help ease business pressures including discounted rate bills for small businesses and deferring tax payments.

Non-domestic Rates: Religious Buildings

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Robert Neill) of 3 June 2009,  Official Report, column 591W, on non-domestic rates: religious buildings, in respect of which faith communities or religions the Registrar General has certified premises as places of religious worship.

Meg Hillier: I have been asked to reply.
	The Places of Worship Registration Act 1855 provides for places of meeting for religious worship to be certified to the Registrar General. Under this Act the Registrar General records all places of meeting for religious worship certified to him. There are approximately 30,000 places of meeting for religious worship certified under the Act. The denominations are recorded as follows:
	Roman Catholic
	Methodist
	Congregationalist
	Baptist
	United Reformed
	Calvinistic Methodist
	Brethren
	Salvation Army
	Unitarian
	Society of Friends
	Jehovah's Witness
	Other Christian bodies
	Jews
	Muslim
	Sikh
	Hindus
	Undenominational
	Buddhists of the New Kadampa Traditional
	Baha'is
	Subud Britain
	Valmiks
	Followers of Guru Das
	Nirankaries
	Ravidasia
	Aetherius society
	Devotees of Krishna
	Friends of Western Buddhist order
	Antiochian Orthodox
	Congregation of Yahweh
	Das Dharam
	Gujarati
	Shree Swaminarayan Siddhant Sajivan Mandal
	Shri guru Ravidasia community
	Theosophists
	Ukraine Autocephalic
	Universal Order of Thios
	Unsectarian
	Who object to be designated by any distinctive appellation
	Zen Buddhists
	Buddhists
	Zoroastrians
	Brahma kumaris
	Jains
	Universal Confluence of Yoga and Vedanta Luminar
	Manjushri
	Nirankaries
	Raman
	Ramgarhia
	Radhan Soami Sagsang Beas-British Isles
	Sant Mat
	Sathya Sai Baha Devotees
	Sufis
	Sukyo Mahikari
	Swaminarayans
	Zen
	Anoopam
	Kshatryna Sabna London Bhagat Namdev Mission
	Maktar Tarighat Ovesyi Shamagh Soudi
	Navnat Vanit
	Anjuman-e-Mohibban-e-Ahlalbait
	Antiochian Orthodox Church
	Byelorussion Autocephalic Orthodox
	Disciples of Baba Gobind Daa Ji
	Eikoko Iesu No Mitama Kyokai
	Ekniwas

Pakistan

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether the Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, the hon. Member for Dewsbury (Mr. Malik) had discussions with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office prior to his meetings with the  (a) Prime Minister and  (b) President of Pakistan during his recent visit to that country.

Shahid Malik: holding answer 9 September 2009
	I travelled to Pakistan privately in August. While there I took the opportunity to meet Mr. Syed Yousef Gilani, the Prime Minister of Pakistan. I did not meet the President of Pakistan. I was in contact with FCO staff in Pakistan about this meeting.
	Travel to and from Pakistan, and domestic flights in Pakistan were paid for by me. Secure travel by road was provided by the Government of Pakistan.

Pakistan

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether the Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, the hon. Member for Dewsbury (Mr. Malik), travelled to Pakistan in an official capacity in August 2009 to meet the President and Prime Minister of that country.

Shahid Malik: I travelled to Pakistan privately in August. While there I took the opportunity to meet Mr. Syed Yousef Gilani, the Prime Minister of Pakistan. I did not meet the President of Pakistan. I was in contact with FCO staff in Pakistan about this meeting.
	Travel to and from Pakistan, and domestic flights in Pakistan were paid for by me. Secure travel by road was provided by the Government of Pakistan.

Parking: Planning Permission

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the policy of the Planning Inspectorate is on provision for maximum parking standards in new residential developments; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Austin: The Government's national policy on residential parking is set out in Planning Policy Statement 3: Housing (2006) and Planning Policy Guidance 13: Transport (2001). PPG13 is clear that local authority policies in preparing their development plans should set maximum levels of parking for broad classes of development, including residential and non-residential development, and that there should be no minimum standards for development, other than parking for disabled people. PPS3 asks local authorities to develop residential parking policies for their areas taking account of expected levels of car ownership, the importance of promoting good design and the need to use land efficiently. This has been deliberately devolved to local authorities so they can make the right choices for their local areas, in consultation with their local communities.
	The flexibility given to local authorities in PPS3 is consistent with the objectives of PPG13, to set their own residential parking policies taking account of the expected levels of car ownership, the importance of promoting good design and the need to use land efficiently.

Regional Planning and Development

Caroline Spelman: EWHC 1280 (Admin) for the  (a) East of England,  (b) South East,  (c) South West and  (d) West Midlands Regional Spatial Strategies; what plans there are to undertake new environmental impact assessments; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Austin: In the east of England the High Court remitted the housing policies in respect of two districts to the Secretary of State and further work on the sustainability appraisal in respect of those policies is underway. The rest of the east of England RSS stands as part of the statutory development plan.
	In the south east we are considering legal challenges in respect of the sustainability appraisal of housing policies two districts. The rest of the south east RSS stands as part of the statutory development plan.
	Proposed changes to the south west plan were consulted on last year, however following the east of England High Court ruling, publication of the final RSS has been delayed pending some further work on the sustainability appraisal.
	The independent panel report on the draft west midlands RSS was published in September 2009 and the Government are currently considering proposed changes and completing the accompanying sustainability appraisal.

Regional Planning and Development

Daniel Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what bursary schemes his Department makes available to postgraduate students on  (a) spatial planning and  (b) other planning courses; how many students received such payments under each bursary in the last 12 months; and how much his Department spent on each scheme in each region in the last 12 months for which figures are available;
	(2)  how many  (a) spatial planning and  (b) other planning postgraduate students who received payments from bursary schemes provided by his Department went on to work in planning (i) in the public sector and (ii) in the private sector in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Ian Austin: holding answer 26 October 2009
	The 16 universities listed as follows offer Royal Town Planning Institute accredited courses and are thus eligible for the CLG bursary scheme.
	In 2008-09 92 out of 105 possible bursaries at 15 universities were awarded at a total cost of £894,062.
	In 2009-10 it is estimated that 154 will be awarded out of 176 bursaries at 16 universities at an estimated cost of £1,496,033.
	The allocations for each university are set out in the following table:
	
		
			 Number of students receiving bursary 
			  University  Region  Course  2008-09( 1)  2009-10( 2) 
			 Leeds Metropolitan YH MA Town & Regional Planning 7 11 
			 Sheffield YH MA Town & Regional Planning 7 11 
			 Sheffield Hallam YH MSc Urban & Regional Planning 7 11 
			 Liverpool JMU NW MSc Environmental Planning 4 7 
			 Liverpool NW Master of Civic Design 6 11 
			 Manchester NW Master of Planning 7 11 
			 Oxford Brookes SE MSc Spatial Planning 7 11 
			 Kingston SE Planning and Sustainability 1 4 
			 Reading SE Development Planning 7 11 
			 London South Bank L MA Planning Policy and Practice 6 9 
			 UCL L MSc Spatial Planning or MSc International Planning 7 11 
			 Westminster L MA Urban & Regional Planning 5 11 
			 West of England (UWE) SW MA Town and Country Planning 7 11 
			 Newcastle NE MSc Town Planning 7 11 
			 Birmingham City WM MA Spatial Planning 7 11 
			 Anglia Ruskin E MSc Town Planning n/a 2 
			 Total   92 154 
			 (1) 2008-09 Bursary = £9,240 (£3,240 fees, £6,000 stipend) (2 )2009-10 Bursary = £9,390 (£3,390 fees, £6,000 stipend) 
		
	
	Students have only been required to sign public service contracts since 2008-09 and as such we do not, as yet, have figures for the number of bursary recipients who went on to work (i) in the public sector and (ii) in the private sector. The 2008-09 students have only recently graduated and we will shortly be contacting them to inquire about their employment status.

Social Rented Housing

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many  (a) UK-born and  (b) non-UK born applicants were allocated social housing in each of the last 10 years.

Ian Austin: holding answer 26 October 2009
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) on 16 October 2009,  Official Report, column 1140W.

CABINET OFFICE

10 Downing Street

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer of 13 May 2009,  Official Report, column 835W, on departmental buildings, in what formats records are held of expenditure on the renovation and refurbishment of 10 Downing Street; and whether copies of suppliers' invoices are held.

Angela Smith: Expenditure records are held on the Cabinet Office Accounting System. Renovation works are procured through the Cabinet Office Total Facilities Management Provider. The Cabinet Office holds invoices from the Total Facilities Management Provider. These do not show project level information.

Admiralty House

Nick Hurd: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if she will make it her policy to place on the rental market empty Ministerial flats in Admiralty House.

Angela Smith: holding answer 15 October 2009
	 I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister to the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Robert Neill) on 20 July 2009,  Official Report, column 770W.

Childbirth

Michael Penning: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  what estimate she has made of the likely number of births in each strategic health authority region in  (a) 2009-10 and  (b) 2010-11;
	(2)  how many births there were in  (a) England and  (b) each strategic health authority in 2008-09.

Angela Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Jil Matheson, dated October 2009:
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Questions on the number of births in  (a) England and  (b) each strategic health authority in 2008-09 (295700), and the estimate of the number of likely births in each strategic health authority in  (a) 2009-10 and  (b) 2010-11. (295617)
	The latest figures available for Strategic Health Authorities are for 2008 calendar year and were published on the ONS website in May 2009:
	www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_population/Table_5.xls
	Part of this table is reproduced below and shows the number of live births in 2008 to mothers who were usually resident in England and in each Strategic Health Authority within England.
	The table below also includes the projected number of live births in each strategic health authority in the year to mid-2009 and mid-2010. These data are taken from the 2006-based Subnational Population Projections published on 12 June 2008, and are the most recent subnational projections available. These are demographic trend-based projections that indicate what the number of births is likely to be if recently observed trends in fertility, mortality and migration were to continue.
	
		
			  Live births, England and strategic health authorities 
			  Number 
			   Live births( 1)  in 2008  Live births Year to mid-2009  Live births Year to mid-2010 
			  England 672,809 672,880 678,914 
			 
			  Strategic health authorities
			 North East 30,217 30,215 30,421 
			 North West 88,167 87,398 87,984 
			 Yorkshire and The Humber 66,353 67,361 68,335 
			 East Midlands 54,192 54,182 54,929 
			 West Midlands 71,726 71,530 72,107 
			 East of England 71,738 71,470 72,257 
			 London 127,651 129,236 130,049 
			 South East Coast 51,565 51,493 51,826 
			 South Central 52,458 51,835 52,234 
			 South West 58,742 58,160 58,772 
			 (1) Live births by area of usual residence of mother.

Departmental Postal Services

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  which companies are under contract to her Department to provide mail services; and when each such contract expires;
	(2)  which companies are under contract to No. 10 Downing Street to provide mail services; and when each such contract expires.

Angela Smith: The Prime Minister's Office forms an integral part of the Cabinet Office. The vast majority of mail services for the Cabinet Office (including the Prime Minister's Office and the Emergency Planning College (EPC) in York) are provided by Royal Mail.

Lone Parents: Bexley

David Evennett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what recent estimate she has made of the number of single parent families in  (a) Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency,  (b) the London Borough of Bexley and  (c) Greater London.

Angela Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Jil Matheson, dated October 2009:
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question, what recent estimate has made of the number of single parent families in (a) Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency, (b) the London Borough of Bexley and (c) Greater London. (295561)
	The number and type of families in the UK has been estimated using the Annual Population Survey (APS). The table below shows 2008 estimates from the APS for the geographical areas requested. Estimates are for all lone parent families, and these families may contain children of any age, including adult children.
	
		
			  Geographical area  Number of lone parent families (thousand) 
			 Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency 4 
			 London Borough of Bexley 12 
			 London 445 
			  Source: APS January to December 2008, not seasonally adjusted

Sarah Brown

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what arrangements are in place to provide civil service support to Mrs. Gordon Brown.

Angela Smith: holding answer 22 October 2009
	 In line with established practice, the Prime Minister's spouse is provided with administrative support as necessary when carrying out public duties.

Teenage Pregnancy

Anne Milton: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the  (a) number and  (b) rate of under-18 year old conceptions was in (a) England and (b) each local authority ward in England for the period (i) 2003 to 2005 and (ii) 2004 to 2006.

Angela Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Jil Matheson, dated October 2009:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question what the (a) number and (b) rate of under-18 year old conceptions was in (a) England and (b) each local authority ward in England for the period (i) 2003 to 2005 and (ii) 2004 to 2006. (295890)
	Figures on conceptions are estimates based on the number of live births, stillbirths or legal abortions. They do not include miscarriages and illegal abortions.
	The table below provides the (a) numbers and (b) rates of conceptions to women aged under 18, for England from 2003 to 2006.
	Figures on conceptions of women aged under 18 are not published for local authority wards in order to protect the privacy of individuals.
	
		
			  Table 1: Conceptions to women aged under 18( 1) , England 2003 - 06 
			  Conceptions 
			   (a) Number  (b) Rate per 1,000( 2) 
			 2003 39,553 42.2 
			 2004 39,593 41.6 
			 2005 39,804 41.3 
			 2006 39,170 40.6 
			 (1) Under 18 years at estimated date of conception. (2) Number of conceptions to women under 18 per 1,000 female population aged 15 to 17.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

British Council: Manpower

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many people the British Council employs in  (a) the UK and  (b) overseas.

Chris Bryant: As published in the Annual Report for the British Council (2008-09) the numbers of permanent staff employed are as follows:
	 (a) In the UK-1,094
	 (b) Overseas-6,390 (including 1,815 teachers)

Burma: Human Rights

Michael Fallon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports his Department has received on the human rights situation in Burma; and whether he plans to impose sanctions against the Burmese authorities.

Ivan Lewis: holding answer 26 October 2009
	The UK remains deeply concerned at the human rights situation in Burma. It is evident from the latest Report to the General Assembly by the UN Rapporteur, Mr. Tomas Ojea Quintana, that systematic and appalling abuses remain unchecked and that arbitrary arrests and the sentencing of opposition figures to long prison terms continues.
	The most prominent example is that of Aung San Suu Kyi, but his report also draws attention to the plight of the more than 2,100 other political prisoners who remain in detention. EU sanctions have been in place against Burma since 1996, but following the sentence imposed on Aung San Suu Kyi on 11 August this year, the EU agreed to a further set of sanctions intended specifically to target the Burmese regime's economic interests, including a travel ban on those members of the judiciary responsible for the verdict.
	These measures came into force on 14 August 2009 and can leave the regime in no doubt about our determination to see real democracy established and human rights respected in Burma. Their objective is to target those individuals and entities that are most closely linked to the regime's misrule, rather than punishing the Burmese population as a whole.

China: Official Engagements

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will place on his Department's website the minutes of his discussions on Tibet during his recent visit to China.

Ivan Lewis: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has no plans to publish these minutes. However I made a public statement about my visit to Tibet which can be found at the following website address:
	http://ukinchina.fco.gov.uk/en/newsroom/?view=PressR&id=20913651
	In addition, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office published an article on Tibet on the Guardian website which can be found at
	http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/news/latest-news/?view=News&id=20943204

Departmental Telephone Services

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will consider the merits of securing accreditation of his Department's helplines to The Helplines Association's quality standard; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Bryant: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not have any plans at present to secure accreditation of the Department's telephone information lines to The Helplines Association's quality standard. However, we are continually seeking to improve the levels of service we provide to the public, and will investigate the benefits of such accreditation.

EU: Young People

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on involvement of young people in the UK in EU activities.

Chris Bryant: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has had no recent discussions with EU counterparts on this issue.
	However, other Secretaries of State have had such discussions, for example on the involvement of young people in EU education and training programmes. Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials have also discussed the involvement of young people in EU activities in the commission working group on EU communications.

Human Trafficking

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what further steps his Department has taken against human trafficking since the entry into force in the UK of the Council of Europe Convention Against Trafficking in Human Beings in April 2009.

Alan Campbell: holding answer 19 October 2009
	I have been asked to reply.
	We continue to make good progress in our efforts to combat human trafficking. On 19 October we published the 2009 Update to the United Kingdom Action Plan on tackling human trafficking in which we introduced 10 new action points including one focused on the development of intelligence-led prevention strategies in relation to the 2012 Olympics.
	We are also in the process of negotiating a revised European Framework Decision on human trafficking and will continue to work with international partners to further develop a collaborative response across the European Union.

Iraq Committee of Inquiry

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  how many  (a) Ministers and  (b) officials in his Department have received requests to give evidence to the Chilcot Inquiry; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  whether he has received a request to give evidence to the Chilcot Inquiry.

David Miliband: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 19 October 2009,  Official Report, column 1210W.

Israel: Nuclear Weapons

Peter Kilfoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to  (a) the Government of Israel,  (b) other countries and  (c) international agencies regarding Israel's nuclear weapons.

Ivan Lewis: We are clear in our call, both privately and publicly, on Israel to accede to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as a non-nuclear weapon state. We also call on Israel to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
	The Foreign and Commonwealth Office Permanent Under Secretary, Peter Ricketts, emphasised our commitment to a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction in meetings during his visit to Israel earlier this month.

Members: Correspondence

William Cash: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for what reason he has not yet replied to the letter dated 20 July 2009 from the Chairman of the European Scrutiny Committee in respect of legal matters pertaining to the Lisbon Treaty.

Chris Bryant: holding answer 14 October 2009
	Ministers were considering how best to reply to the letter and the reply was sent on 13 October 2009.

Middle East: Peace Negotiations

Peter Kilfoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his most recent assessment is of the threat to peace in the Middle East posed by Israel's possession of nuclear weapons.

Ivan Lewis: As my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary made clear on 20 October 2009,  Official Report, column 757, the UK has voted consistently in support of a nuclear-free Middle East as part of a drive for nuclear disarmament around the world.
	We continue to believe that a negotiated solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict, delivering a viable Palestinian State alongside a secure Israel, is a critical part of achieving peace and security in the region.

Mordechai Vanunu

Peter Kilfoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of Israel on the situation of Mordechai Vanunu.

Ivan Lewis: We raised Mr Vanunu's case with the Israeli Government on a number of occasions during his detention. After Mr Vanunu was released, we then raised the conditions of his release with the Israeli Government.
	We will continue to follow the case and should we judge that the circumstances have changed to mean that an intervention by the UK is likely to achieve significant movement than we will consider making further representations.

Party Conferences

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether any of his Department's non-departmental public bodies sent representatives to attend one or more political party conferences in 2009.

Chris Bryant: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has no record of its non-departmental public bodies having sent representatives to attend any political party conferences in their professional capacity in 2009.

Passports: Embassies

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many emergency passports have been issued through consular services in each of the last five years.

Chris Bryant: The number of Emergency Passports issued for each of the last five financial years is provided in the following table:
	
		
			   Number 
			 2008-09 10,806 
			 2007-08 11,956 
			 2006-07 11,138 
			 2005-06 9,212 
			 2004-05 11,485

Thailand: Prisoners

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth 
	(1)  Affairs what discussions he has had with the government of Thailand on the trial of Utain Dungnoi for the murder of Richard Collins;
	(2)  whether he has made representations to the Government of Thailand on the release of Utain Dungnoi on bail pending appeal; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: Our officials at our Embassy in Bangkok have passed on a letter from Yvonne Hart, Richard Collins' mother, outlining her concerns about the ongoing process.
	However, as the hon. Member knows, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office cannot interfere in the Thai legal system, just as we would not allow a foreign state's interference in British legal proceedings.

Turkey

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to the government of Turkey on its non-compliance with the Ankara Protocol; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Bryant: Ministers and officials across Government have frequent contact with Turkish counterparts on all aspects of Turkey's EU accession process, including discussion of the Additional Ankara Protocol, where we urge Turkey to take forward its implementation. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary did so most recently with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on 25 September 2009.

Turkey

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the implications for the proposals for Turkish accession to the EU at the 2009 review of Turkey's non-compliance with the Ankara protocol; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Bryant: The European Commission's 2009 Progress Report notes that Turkey has not fully implemented the Additional Ankara Protocol, and states it is now urgent that Turkey fulfils its obligation to ensure implementation of the Protocol. The Government agree it is important that Turkey takes forward the protocol's implementation.

Visits Abroad

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which countries  (a) he has and  (b) his Department's Ministers have visited on official capacity since November 2008; on what dates each such visit took place; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Bryant: The Cabinet Office publishes an annual list of overseas travel by Ministers costing in excess of £500.
	A list of all overseas visits undertaken by Ministers costing £500 or more during the period 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2009 was published in July 2009. The list provides details of the date, destination and purpose of all such visits and the cost of Ministers' travel and accommodation where appropriate. Copies of the list have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
	A list of overseas visits undertaken by Ministers in the period 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2010 will be published in due course. All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code.

Western Sahara: Human Rights

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his Moroccan counterpart on alleged human rights violations in Western Sahara.

Ivan Lewis: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary discussed the human dimension of the Western Sahara conflict with the Moroccan Foreign Minister, Mr. Fassi Fihri, when they met in June this year. Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials have continued this dialogue with their Moroccan counterparts, encouraging the need for openness and transparency as a way of building confidence between the parties to the conflict.

HEALTH

Alcoholic Drinks: Children

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children under the age of 18 years have been treated for alcohol-related health problems in the Milton Keynes area in each of the last five years.

Gillian Merron: The number of children under the age of 18 years resident in Milton Keynes Primary Care Trust who were admitted to hospital with an alcohol-related condition in each of the last five years is set out in the following table.
	
		
			   Number 
			 2004-05 87 
			 2005-06 71 
			 2006-07(1) 39 
			 2007-08 63 
			 2008-09(2) 54 
			 (1 )There appears to be a shortfall of data from Milton Keynes General Hospital Trust in 2006-07. The figure for this year should therefore be treated with caution. (2 )Provisional information.  Notes:  1. Includes activity in English national health service hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector.  2. Alcohol-related admissions  The number of alcohol-related admissions is based on the methodology developed by the North West Public Health Observatory. Figures for under 16s only include admissions where one or more of the following alcohol-specific conditions were listed: Alcoholic cardiomyopathy (142.6)  Alcoholic gastritis (K29.2)  Alcoholic liver disease (K70)  Alcoholic myopathy (G72.1)  Alcoholic polyneuropathy (G62.1)  Alcohol-induced pseudo-Cushing's syndrome (E24.4)  Chronic pancreatitis (alcohol induced) (K86.0)  Degeneration of nervous system due to alcohol (G31.2)  Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol (F10)  Accidental poisoning by and exposure to alcohol (X45)  Ethanol poisoning (T51.0)  Methanol poisoning (T51.1)  Toxic effect of alcohol, unspecified (T51.9)  3. Ungrossed data  Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed).  4. Finished admission episodes  A finished admission episode is the first period of inpatient care under one consultant within one health care provider. Finished admission episodes are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of inpatients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.  5. Data quality  Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) are compiled from data sent by more than 300 NHS trusts and primary care trusts in England. Data are also received from a number of independent sector organisations for activity commissioned by the English NHS. The NHS Information Centre for health and social care liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data via HES processes. While this brings about improvement over time, some shortcomings remain.  6. Assessing growth through time  HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. The quality and coverage of the data have improved over time. These improvements in information submitted by the NHS have been particularly marked in the earlier years and need to be borne in mind when analysing time series.  Some of the increase in figures for later years (particularly 2006-07 onwards) may be due to the improvement in the coverage of independent sector activity.  Changes in NHS practice also need to be borne in mind when analysing time series. For example, a number of procedures may now be undertaken in outpatient settings and may no longer be accounted for in the HES data. This may account for any reductions in activity over time.  7. Assignment of episodes to years  Years are assigned by the end of the first period of care in a patient's hospital stay.  Source:  Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), The Information Centre for health and social care.

Appointment Reminder Schemes

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which primary care trusts operate appointment reminder schemes.

Mike O'Brien: The Department does not collect information centrally on which primary care trusts operate appointment reminder schemes.
	Local national health service organisations make their own arrangements for operating appointment reminder schemes such as text messages to remind patients of upcoming appointments.

Blood: Contamination

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when his Department next plans to review the level of payments made to people who have received contaminated blood supplies.

Gillian Merron: The Government are committed to reviewing the Skipton Fund, which makes payments to individuals infected with hepatitis-C as a result of receiving contaminated blood and blood products, in 2014. The Department announced an increase in payments to those infected with HIV as a result of receiving contaminated blood and blood products with effect from 20 May 2009, and there are no current plans to review those payments.

Care Homes: Food

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the answer of 25 June 2008,  Official Report, columns 368-69W, on nutrition, for what reasons the final report of the National Action Plan Delivery Board was not published by the end of 2008; when he expects that report to be published; and what assessment he has made of the effects of the difference in such dates upon patient care.

Phil Hope: The Nutrition Action Plan Delivery Board is independent of Government. The Department therefore had no input into the writing of the board's report. The report took longer to produce than envisaged and was finally submitted to the Department in July 2009. It is now being considered by ministers. We expect the report will be published later this year.
	The delay in publishing the report has no impact on patient care. The report outlines the progress made in implementing the actions identified in the nutrition action plan.

Care Homes: Standards

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of care homes for  (a) younger adults and  (b) older people met or exceeded (i) National Minimum Standard 8, (ii) National Minimum Standard 15 and (iii) both standards in each year since 2002-03.

Phil Hope: We are informed by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) that the percentages of care homes meeting or exceeding the requested national minimum standards in each year between 2002-03 and 2008-09-the latest year for which information is available-were as shown in the following tables.
	
		
			  Percentages of services meeting or exceeding individual national minimum standards (NMS)-care homes for younger adults-since 2002-03 
			  NMS  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09 
			 8. Participation 65 82 89 90 90 91 91 
			 15. Relationships 91 95 97 98 98 98 98 
			 Both standards met or exceeded 61 76 84 82 79 78 76 
			  Note: Percentages are based on the most recent score for each standard as at 31 March in each year. The year shown is not necessarily the year of inspection; not every standard is inspected every year and not every service is inspected annually.  Source: CQC database 
		
	
	
		
			  Percentages of services meeting or exceeding individual national minimum standards (NMS)-care homes for older people-since 2002-03 
			  NMS  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09 
			 8. Healthcare 73 78 78 78 79 83 86 
			 15. Meals and mealtimes 78 82 84 85 86 88 89 
			 Both standards met or exceeded 62 67 70 69 71 76 79 
			  Note: Percentages are based on the most recent score for each standard as at 31 March in each year. The year shown is not necessarily the year of inspection; not every standard is inspected every year and not every service is inspected annually.  Source: CQC database

Community Care

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many adults in each age band received support under section 47 of the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 in  (a) 2007,  (b) 2008 and  (c) 2009.

Phil Hope: The information is contained in the following table.
	
		
			  The total number of clients aged 18 and over in receipt of local authority funded community based services, by age band, as at 31 March. 
			  Rounded 
			   Community based services 
			  At 31 March  Age 18 to 64  Age 65 to 74  Age 75 and over  Total 
			 2007(1) 376,300 131,700 514,800 1,022,900 
			 2008 395,000 139,100 522,300 1,056,300 
			 2009(2) 401,400 135,800 509,900 1,047,100 
			 (1 )In 2007 "overnight respite-client's home" was included within community based services provided to clients, from 2008 all respite care is now recorded as a service for carers rather than clients and is therefore not included in this data. (2 )Data for 2008-09 are provisional.  Source:  Referral, Assessments and Packages of Care form P2s

Deficiency Diseases: Young People

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of scurvy were reported in each local authority area in each of the last five years; and how many such cases were in persons under 18.

Gillian Merron: The figures on the number of cases of scurvy reported are not held centrally.
	The number of finished consultant episodes with a primary or secondary diagnosis of scurvy is shown in the following table.
	The figures provided cover those patients treated in hospital with a diagnosis of scurvy at the national level.
	
		
			  Count of finished consultant episodes (FCEs)( 1)  where there was a primary or secondary diagnosis( 2)  of 'scurvy'( 3) , activity in English national health service hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector 
			   FCEs( 1) 
			 2007-08 94 
			 2006-07 101 
			 2005-06 68 
			 2004-05 61 
			 2003-04 72 
			 (1) Finished Consultant Episode (FCE): A FCE is defined as a continuous period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. FCEs are counted against the year in which they end. It should be noted that the figures do not represent the number of different patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the same stay in hospital or in different stays in the same year. (2) Number of episodes in which the patient had a (named) primary or secondary diagnosis. These figures represent the number of episodes where the diagnosis was recorded in any of the 20 (14 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and seven prior to 2002-03) primary and secondary diagnosis fields in a HES record. Each episode is only counted once in each count, even if the diagnosis is recorded in more than one diagnosis field of the record. ( 3)  Scurvy : ICD10 Code E54.  Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), the NHS Information Centre for health and social care.

Dementia

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he plans to publish the results of his Department's review of anti-psychotic use in dementia care.

Phil Hope: The results of the review of anti-psychotic drugs for people with dementia will be published in November.

Douglas House

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans his Department has for the future of Douglas House residential home for people with severe mental disabilities; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Hope: Government policy is clear that everyone in England should have the opportunity to benefit from good support to live in the community.
	"Our Health, Our Care, Our Say", published in November 2006, set out that, as community-based settings enable a greater degree of independence and inclusion and better health outcomes, all NHS campuses should close by 2010. A copy of the publication has already been placed in the Library.
	We are advised that the chief executive of Bournemouth and Poole Primary Care Trust wrote to the hon. Member in detail on 21 September 2009 in response to his letter regarding concerns raised over the closure of Douglas House.

Haematology

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when his Department plans to review the national haematology guidelines; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: The Department does not generally issue guidance on haematology. Professional guidance is usually provided by the British Committee for Standards in Haematology.
	In 2003, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) published guidance on Improving Outcomes in Haematological Cancers. This guidance makes recommendations on the organisation of services for patients with haematological cancers. NICE has not yet set a date for review of this guidance.

Health Services: Illegal Immigrants

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health under what circumstances illegal immigrants may obtain treatment under the National Health Service.

Phil Hope: Any person who wishes to receive national health service primary medical services can apply to a local general practice to register as a patient or as a temporary resident. However, under their contracts with their primary care trust the general practice can, where they have reasonable non-discriminatory grounds, decline an application, for example if they are not accepting new patients or because the prospective patient does not live within the practice boundary. Where an application is declined, the general practice must nevertheless provide as a term of their contracts any immediately necessary treatment for a period of up to 14 days free of charge.
	Entitlement to free NHS hospital treatment is based on lawful and settled residence in the United Kingdom. Illegal immigrants are therefore subject to the National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 1989, as amended, which set out a number of exemption from charge categories. Illegal immigrants are not exempt from charges except for certain services that are free to all, including treatment given inside an accident and emergency department or for certain infectious diseases.
	Treatment which is clinically considered to be immediately necessary must never be withheld or delayed, although charges will still apply to illegal immigrants. Further, treatment that is clinically considered urgent enough that it cannot await the patient's return home, must also be provided, although hospitals should attempt to secure payment during the period before treatment is provided. Non-urgent treatment that can await the person's return home should not be given unless payment is received in advance.

Health Services: Voluntary Work

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he plans to publish the proposed strategy to support volunteering in health and social care.

Phil Hope: Building on last year's consultation "Towards a strategy to support volunteering in health and social care: Consultation", the Department has been working with stakeholders to agree a shared vision for volunteering in the context of the Government's wider strategy for improvement and reform across the health and social care system. We anticipate publishing a high-level strategy to support this in the new year.

HIV Infection

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that future funding for social services provision for HIV positive people takes account of  (a) inflation and  (b) predicted numbers of people diagnosed with HIV in the future.

Gillian Merron: Following the 2007 comprehensive spending review, the AIDS Support Grant, which provides a contribution towards the social care and support of people with HIV, was increased from £16.5 million, to £19.8 million in 2008-09, £21.8 million in 2009-10 and £25.5 million in 2010-11. Decisions on allocations beyond this period have not yet been made.
	The AIDS Support Grant is allocated to individual authorities based on their HIV caseloads, updated annually, with a weighting of 30 per cent. towards women and children affected or infected by HIV. This recognises the increasing pressure of HIV among these groups.

Home Care Services

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 13 October 2009,  Official Report, columns 808-09W, on home care services, which central budgets he plans to reprioritise.

Phil Hope: Decisions on reprioritisation have yet to be taken, but the Department is considering savings from lower use of management consultancy and advertising, and slower growth in lower priority research budgets.

Mental Health Services

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the outcomes of the use of cognitive behavioural therapy programmes in treating each category of mental health issue.

Phil Hope: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has made a prior assessment of the outcomes of using cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) by the national health service before making any recommendations about its use by the NHS in treating mental illness.
	NICE currently recommends that the NHS offers CBT as a treatment for antenatal and postnatal mental health problems; antisocial personality disorder; anxiety; attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; bipolar disorder; borderline personality disorder; dementia; depression in adults, children and young people; drug misuse; bulimia; obsessive compulsive disorder; post-traumatic stress disorder; self-harming; and, schizophrenia.
	We are increasing the availability of CBT in primary care through the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme (IAPT). Our plan is to have trained 3,600 more therapists who will help to provide 900,000 more people with access to psychological therapies by 2010-11. Of those completing treatment 50 per cent. are expected to recover.
	All IAPT services are required to collect routine clinical outcome data at every session, so that clinical teams can evaluate the effectiveness of the service and so that patients can see and discuss their progress with their therapist. The data also enables primary care trusts and practice based commissioners to commission psychological therapy services for the outcomes which they are expected to achieve.
	New IAPT services collect the IAPT minimum data set, and a national data standard is currently being developed to enable the national collation of this data by 2011.

NHS: Compensation

Hywel Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what criteria are used to determine ex-gratia payments to NHS patients who have experienced adverse consequences of NHS treatment.

Ann Keen: Chapter Five of the NHS Manual for Accounts contains guidance to the National Health Service on Losses and Special Payments, which includes the making of ex gratia payments. A copy of the current version of Chapter Five has been placed in the Library. An online version of the 2008-09 Manual is available from:
	www.info.doh.gov.uk/doh/finman.nsf/4db79df91d978b6c00256728004f9d6b/95096061ec2c0feb802573bf0055e962?OpenDocument

NHS: Finance

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the percentage of invoices paid by NHS hospitals within 10 days in the latest period for which figures are available.

Mike O'Brien: We do not currently collect such performance data.
	However, David Nicholson, NHS chief executive, wrote to all NHS trust chief executives on 21 October 2008 asking them to examine and review existing payment practices and payment performance and to move as closely as possible to the 10-day payment commitment that has been set for Government Departments wherever practical. This message was reiterated in a further letter to NHS trust chief executives from David Nicholson on 18 May 2009.
	NHS prompt payment performance against the 30 day payment target is reported in annual accounts. The 2008-09 accounts for NHS trusts recorded an 84 per cent. achievement against the 30 day payment target for non-NHS payments.

NHS: Negligence

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 13 July 2009,  Official Report, column 176W, on NHS: negligence, how much was spent in total on  (a) claimant costs,  (b) defence costs and  (c) damages for (i) the closed claims in which claimant costs exceeded damages and (ii) all closed claims in each year.

Ann Keen: Following an internal review by the NHS Litigation Authority, an error was detected in Table 2 of the answer of 12 October 2009,  Official Report, columns 736-37W, on NHS: Negligence. The following tables correct that error and provide the additional data requested.
	
		
			  Table 1: Payments made on clinical negligence claims where claimant costs were greater than the damages paid on claims closed 2004-05 to 2008-09 as at 30 August 2009 
			  £ 
			  Year of closure  Damages  paid  Defence costs paid  Claimant  c osts paid 
			 2004-05 9,824,545 8,591,362 17,105,723 
			 2005-06 10,957,214 8,475,960 19,786,927 
			 2006-07 11,857,076 8,345,493 20,668,200 
			 2007-08 18,385,285 11,371,170 31,878,502 
			 2008-09 16,949,494 9,786,706 31,553,118 
			 Total 67,973,614 46,570,691 120,992,471 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Payments made on all other clinical negligence claims closed 2004-05 to 2008-09 as at 30 August 2009 
			  £ 
			  Year of closure  Damages paid  Defence costs paid  Claimant costs paid 
			 2004-05 358,508,722 43,504,736 58,017,881 
			 2005-06 353,351,141 39,468,081 60,943,948 
			 2006-07 275,848,011 33,366,925 53,294,121 
			 2007-08 332,052,942 40,111,830 67,590,234 
			 2008-09 289,238,325 36,480,285 69,616,778 
			 Total 1,608,999,141 192,931,858 309,462,963 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 3: Payments made on all clinical negligence claims closed 2004-05 to 2008-09 as at 30 August 2009 
			  £ 
			  Year of closure  Damages paid  Defence costs paid  Claimant costs paid 
			 2004-05 368,333,267 52,096,098 75,123,605 
			 2005-06 364,308,355 47,944,041 80,730,875 
			 2006-07 287,705,087 41,712,419 73,962,321 
			 2007-08 350,438,228 51,483,000 99,468,737 
			 2008-09 306,187,819 46,266,991 101,169,896 
			 Total 1,676,972,755 239,502,548 430,455,434

NHS: Negligence

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many unsuccessful clinical negligence claims were brought against the NHS in each year since 1997-98 for which figures are available; and how much unsuccessful claimants spent in  (a) defence costs and  (b) claimant costs in each year.

Ann Keen: The NHS Litigation Authority (NHSLA) only records data relating to members of its; schemes, which include all primary care trusts, national health service trusts and NHS foundation trusts.
	For unsuccessful claims, not all defence costs are recovered from claimants. This may be because the claimant was funded by the Legal Services Commission or if the claimant does not have the resource to pay costs. The NHSLA does not specifically record defence costs recovered from claimants and to obtain this information would be at disproportionate cost. However, as an alternative, the NHSLA have provided information on defence costs of unsuccessful claims in the following table.
	Defence Costs paid on all clinical negligence claims closed 2004-05 to 2008-09 with nil damages as at 30 August 2009
	
		
			  Closure  Number of claims  Defence costs paid (£) 
			 2004-05 4,033 13,166,895 
			 2005-06 3,040 9,320,411 
			 2006-07 2,910 9,183,562 
			 2007-08 2,650 10,748,887 
			 2008-09 2,338 8,112,917 
			 Total: 14,971 50,532,671 
		
	
	The NHSLA does not record data relating to claimant costs in unsuccessful cases as it does not make payment on these costs and the claimant is not obliged to disclose the information to the defendant.

NHS: Publications

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department's publication 1999-2009: A decade of excellence cost to produce; and how many copies were made.

Mike O'Brien: "1999-2009: A decade of excellence" was published by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in July 2009. The cost to produce the document and number of copies made is a matter for NICE as an independent body.

NHS: Standards

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which  (a) primary care trusts and  (b) other NHS trusts did not meet the Care Quality Commission's (i) core standard C15a and (ii) core standard C15b in its 2008-09 annual health check.

Phil Hope: For the 2008-09 annual health check the Care Quality Commission reported that all primary care trusts were compliant with C15a and C15b.
	Two national health service trusts not compliant with C15a were Manchester mental health and social care NHS trust, and South Downs health NHS trust.
	Seven NHS trusts not compliant with C15b were:
	Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
	Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust
	Worthing and Southlands Hospitals NHS Trust
	Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust
	Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust
	Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust, and
	South Downs Health NHS Trust.

Nottingham University Hospital

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what reports he has received on allegations of misreporting of admissions to the accident and emergency department of Nottingham University Hospital; and what assessment has been made of the  (a) level of misreporting and  (b) reasons for such misreporting.

Mike O'Brien: The Department is aware of this issue. Any substantiated case of misreporting is serious. All data received by the Department should be certified by national health service trusts and chief executives as accurate.
	This is a matter for NHS East Midlands. We understand that it is working with Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust to review reporting processes to ensure they are robust.

Nutrition

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he plans to take to measure achievements under the Nutrition Action Plan against objectives.

Phil Hope: The Department is presently reviewing the Nutrition Action Plan Delivery Board's end of year report and will come to a decision on these issues based on the content of that report.

Premature Births: Death

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress the NHS is making in reducing the number of babies who die following premature birth.

Ann Keen: Advances in technology and health care expertise have led to increasing survival rates of very premature babies over the last 20 years. Over the past decade, survival has improved dramatically for babies born at 26 weeks of gestation and above so that now over 80 per cent. survive.
	The EPICure Study (led by the university of Nottingham, Department of Child Health) was established in 1995 to determine the chances of survival and later health status by following up children who were born in the United Kingdom and Ireland at less than 26 weeks gestational age during a 10-month period in that year. This is now an ongoing study, which it is hoped will not only show survival and rates of disability but also identify factors at birth, which could give an indication as to the long-term outcome for the survivors.
	A new study, EPICure 2, covers all babies born in England at 26 weeks of gestation or less during 2006. This study will demonstrate how effective advances in neonatal care have been since the first study in 1995. Preliminary findings, published in May 2008, found that babies born above 24 and 25 weeks of gestation were significantly more likely to survive in 1995 compared with 2006.
	Details of the EPICure studies can be found on the EPICure website:
	www.epicure.ac.uk

Social Services

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many adults in each age band received support under section 21 of the National Assistance Act 1948 in  (a) 2007,  (b) 2008 and  (c) 2009.

Phil Hope: Section 21 of the National Assistance Act 1948 empowers local authorities to support people in residential and nursing care homes. Data on the number of adults aged 18 and over in local authority supported registered residential and nursing care is collected and published by the NHS Information Centre for health and social care via the Supported Residents (SR1) return. Information is collected for the age groups 18 to 64 and 65 and over.
	The following table shows the number of adults aged 18 and over in local authority supported registered residential and nursing care as at 31 March 2007 and 2008. Information for 2009 is expected to be published in early 2010.
	
		
			  Total numbers of clients aged 18 and over in receipt of local authority funded residential or nursing care in England as at 31 March 
			  Rounded numbers 
			   Total of all supported residents 
			   18 to 64  65 and over  Totals 
			 2007 56,100 191,200 247,300 
			 2008 53,900 182,200 236,100 
			 Source: NHS Information Centre-SR1 return, table 1.

Social Services: Leeds

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many social workers were recruited to work in the City of Leeds in each year since 2001.

Phil Hope: Information showing the number of whole-time equivalent social workers employed by the City of Leeds as at 30 September each year from 2001 to 2008 is shown in the following table.
	
		
			   Whole-time equivalent 
			 2001 550.6 
			 2002 552.5 
			 2003 599.9 
			 2004 622.1 
			 2005 624.8 
			 2006 652.8 
			 2007 670.9 
			 2008 681.7 
			  Notes: 1. The NHS Information Centre for health and social care collects and publishes data relating to the number of social workers directly employed by social services departments within councils with social services responsibilities. 2. The information supplied is the number of social workers employed by the City of Leeds social services department. This has been calculated using the same definitions as that: used for the performance indicators which formed part of the "performance assessment framework" (PAF) and was last published by the former Commission for Social Care Inspection in 2007-08. PAF has now been replaced by the national indicator set but there are no comparable equivalent indicators. 3. "Social Workers", includes team leaders/managers, assistant team managers/senior social workers, care managers, field social workers and child protection, family placement and juvenile/youth justice workers working in children's services. Councils employ social workers in other roles. These may have social work qualifications and registration with the General Social Care Council, but not be classified as "social workers with children" in the return. 4. Data on the number of staff employed by local authorities in social services departments in England are collected annually by The Information Centre for health and social care by means of form SSDS001; prior to 2005 the data were collected by the Department. 5. The data presented are for whole-time equivalent staff. 6. The latest date for which data are available is 30 September 2008; data for 30 September 2009 for England are expected to be published in spring 2010.  Source: The Information Centre for health and social care

Swine Flu: Leeds

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to reduce the incidence of swine influenza in Leeds West constituency.

Gillian Merron: The Government response to the Swine Flu outbreak in Leeds West constituency has been consistent with the response in other parts of the country. National health service services in the Yorkshire and Humber area are well prepared for a second wave of swine flu, having undergone extensive planning and testing processes, in line with the rest of the country.
	People are able to access the National Pandemic Flu Service and be assessed for swine flu symptoms either by phone or by using the internet. If swine flu is confirmed, antiviral medicines are prescribed and can be collected from a number of local antiviral collection points (ACPs) by a "flu friend'. As at 22 October, there is one ACP open in Leeds; this may change in accordance with local demand.
	General information on swine flu is also available through the Swine Flu information line.
	Individuals with underlying health conditions, pregnant women, and parents with children under the age of one are being advised to speak to their general practitioner if they have symptoms.
	Initial supplies of the Swine Flu vaccine are also scheduled to be delivered to acute trusts and primary care trusts over the next few weeks.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Burma: Human Rights

Lindsay Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment he has made of the humanitarian situation in Burma; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Foster: Humanitarian conditions are poor throughout Burma. A third of the population (16.5 million people) lives on less than 16p a day. Malaria, TB and HIV/AIDS are serious health risks. Half of Burma's 20 million children do not complete primary school. About 140,000 Burmese refugees are sheltering in camps in Thailand, and many displaced people inside Burma live in extreme poverty. Conditions remain precarious in parts of the Irrawaddy Delta struck by Cyclone Nargis in May 2008.
	In response to these humanitarian needs, the Department for International Development (DFID) is increasing its programme in Burma from £12.5 million in 2008-09 to £25 million this financial year and £28 million in 2010-11. In 2008-09, DFID also provided £45 million in emergency aid following Cyclone Nargis.
	UK aid for Burma is channelled through the United Nations and non-governmental organisations, not through the Burmese central government. It is monitored closely by DFID staff based in Burma. We are encouraging other donors to follow our example and expand their aid programmes in Burma.

Guinea: Politics and Government

Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on the humanitarian situation in Guinea; and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: The UK Government are appalled by the atrocities committed against peaceful demonstrators during the opposition rally of 28 September. The UK has been actively engaged with EU counterparts in Brussels, New York and via ambassadors in the region. Our ambassador in Guinea is also a member of the International Contact Group on Guinea and has maintained a constant dialogue with EU partners on the ground.

Kenya: Overseas Aid

Lindsay Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what his most recent assessment is of the effects of the volume of available food supplies on the humanitarian situation in Kenya; and if he will make a statement.

Gareth Thomas: Although food production is down by 19 per cent. in Kenya in 2009, food is being imported or donated to make up the shortfall. Food prices are, however, very high.
	From a humanitarian perspective, the most important issue is whether the very poorest in society are able to access food. Increasing numbers of poor people face the double burden of low production, because of the poor rains in 2009 and the disrupted farming from post-election violence in 2008, and high prices that exclude them from the market.
	Food aid is being co-ordinated by the World Food Programme (WFP), whose appeal of May 2009 has nearly been met. The Department for International Development is encouraging WFP to improve its targeting so that those most in need are assisted first. We will continue to monitor the humanitarian situation closely.

St. Helena: Airports

Lindsay Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent progress has been made on reaching a decision regarding the construction of an airport on St. Helena; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Foster: The Department for International Development has recently carried out a public consultation on the most appropriate option for access to St. Helena. The consultation report will be published shortly.

TREASURY

Departmental Telephone Services

Mark Oaten: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will consider the merits of securing accreditation of his Department's helplines to the Helplines Association's quality standard; and if he will make a statement.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 26 October 2009,  Official Report, column 74W.

Equitable Life Assurance Society: Compensation

Anne Main: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects Sir John Chadwick to report to him his advice on an Equitable Life ex-gratia payment scheme; and if he will make a statement.

John Mann: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects Sir John Chadwick to issue his advice to Ministers on an ex-gratia compensation scheme for Equitable Life policyholders; and what estimate he has made of the time to be taken in dealing with compensation claims following the determination of the structure of the compensation scheme.

Liam Byrne: As I announced in the House on 21 October, the Government have asked Sir John Chadwick to submit his final report by spring 2010.

Equitable Life Assurance Society: Compensation

John Mann: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his policy is on compensating all Equitable Life policyholders for losses attributable to the manner in which Equitable Life was regulated.

Liam Byrne: As the Government set out in their response to the parliamentary ombudsman 15 January 2009, it will establish an ex-gratia payment scheme for Equitable Life policyholders who have suffered maladministration resulting in injustice. The Government have asked Sir John Chadwick to look at the data and advise on a number of issues relating to the extent of relative loses and their impact. The Government will introduce the payment scheme with the benefit of his advice and taking into account other considerations, including the state of the public purse.

Financial Services: Pay

Dai Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will require UK Financial Investments to oblige any financial institutions in receipt of public money which have a policy of paying end of year bonuses to publish the payments and their recipients at the time the payment is made.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Government's policy is that state-controlled companies' (including UKFI investee banks') approach to disclosure should follow the requirements for companies listed on the Stock Exchange, including the Combined Code on Corporate Governance and Directors' Remuneration Report Regulations.

Fossil Fuel Levy: Scotland

Adam Ingram: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received from the Scottish Executive on the drawdown and utilisation of the Scottish Fossil Fuel Levy Fund for the promotion of use from renewable sources.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 26 October 2009
	 Treasury Ministers and officials receive representations from a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such representations.

Insurance: Motor Vehicles

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what progress the Financial Services Authority has made in its investigation into the practice of third party capture in the insurance industry;
	(2)  whether the Financial Services Authority plans to take regulatory steps to ensure that insurance claimants involved in accidents have adequate opportunity to receive medical or legal advice before settling any claim.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The FSA has carried out exploratory work on the issue of third party capture in the insurance industry in order to assess the nature of the practice and the level of risk to consumers. The FSA has recently concluded this risk assessment work and is currently liaising with the relevant trade bodies to agree what action can be taken by the industry to mitigate the risks to consumers. Once these discussions are concluded, the FSA will consider what further actions, if any, are required to address any residual consumer risk attached to the practice of third party capture by the insurance industry.

Local Government: Assets

Richard Spring: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of the net average monetary value of assets purchased by local authorities over the last 20 years.

Liam Byrne: From the years 1989-90 to 2008-09, according to the Office for National Statistics, the net value of assets purchased by local authorities was on average £4 billion a year (net of asset sales and depreciation). This figure excludes capital grants.

Personal Income

Hilary Armstrong: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of households with an annual income of below £50,000  (a) in total and  (b) with children under the age of 16 whose income is expected to exceed this level in each year from 2010-11 to 2014-15.

Stephen Timms: No such estimates have been made. Related information, covering analysis of the income distribution in 2007-08, can be found in "Households Below Average Income", published by the Department for Work and Pensions and available at the following link.
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/hbai.asp

Presbyterian Mutual Society

Lady Hermon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the names are of the members of the Prime Minister's working group on the Presbyterian Mutual Society.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Ministerial Working Group on the Presbyterian Mutual Society is chaired by my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury. The other members are: the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, the First Minister for Northern Ireland, the Deputy First Minister for Northern Ireland, the Minister for Finance and Personnel Northern Ireland and the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment Northern Ireland.

Presbyterian Mutual Society

Lady Hermon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  when he expects the report by the Prime Minister's working group on the Presbyterian Mutual Society to be published;
	(2)  for what reasons the report by the Prime Minister's working group on the Presbyterian Mutual Society has not yet been published.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Working Group is examining a number of options, all of which raise complex issues. The Group wants to ensure that it has explored all issues carefully before reporting to the Prime Minister.

Presbyterian Mutual Society

Lady Hermon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps his Department took to examine the financial activities of the Presbyterian Mutual Society  (a) prior to and  (b) following devolution in Northern Ireland.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Treasury had no responsibility for regulating the financial activities of PMS either before or following devolution.

Revenue and Customs: Northern Ireland

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has obtained advice from the Equality Commission of Northern Ireland to assist in ensuring that the various religious communities are more accurately represented among those commencing employment in HMRC in Northern Ireland.

Stephen Timms: holding answer 26 October 2009
	HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is aware that its staff in post figures do not reflect the economically active population of Northern Ireland in regard to community background. These figures show that the Protestant community is under-represented within HMRC's work force. In light of this, the Department has sought both the advice and agreement of the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland (the Commission) in the drafting of the Department's 2009 Northern Ireland Affirmative Action Plan.
	The plan, recently agreed by the Commission, aims to ensure fair participation of all sections of the community in HMRC's work force through fair and transparent employment practices and a range of outreach measures, including:
	All vacancies for employment are advertised widely, ensuring that newspapers read mainly by the Protestant community are included.
	Job advertisements for all posts will continue to include a statement welcoming applications from the Protestant community.
	Where jobs and benefits offices are used, advertisements include a welcoming statement for members of the Protestant community and are circulated to other offices in the catchment area. The response to each such request is monitored.
	We have links with schools from the Protestant community in an effort to attract applicants from that community and to offer work experience to trainees.
	The Department continues to benefit from the involvement of the Commission in the implementation and review of the action plan, and will report on progress to the Commission in January 2010.

Revenue and Customs: Repayment

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer in what circumstances HM Revenue and Customs repays  (a) capital and  (b) interest on sums it has collected in error.

Stephen Timms: HM Revenue and Customs will repay or reallocate capital collected in error with interest if applicable.

Taxation: Banks

Jim Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the monetary value of tax losses being carried forward by banks from financial years  (a) 2007-08 and  (b) 2008-09.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Historical figures for Corporation Tax paid by the financial sector are published in table 11.1, on the HMRC website. However, it is not possible to publish HMRC estimates of the loss position of UK banks due to rules protecting taxpayer confidentiality.

Taxation: Gambling

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many online gambling companies registered in the UK paid gross profits tax on their income from gambling in each year since 2005.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: holding answer 26 October 2009
	 The average number of online gambling companies paying Remote Gaming Duty (which is a gross profit tax) were:
	
		
			   Number 
			 2008 14 
			 2009 17 
		
	
	There will also be other online gambling companies not included in Remote Gaming Duty but paying General Betting Duty. However HM Revenue and Customs do not have these data readily available.

Taxation: Self-Assessment

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people whose addresses registered with HM Revenue and Customs contained a BT postcode and who were required to complete a self-assessment tax return did not submit the return by the statutory deadline of 31 January in each of the last three years.

Stephen Timms: I refer the hon. Member to the answers given on 20 March 2009,  Official Report, column 1416w and 20 May 2008,  Official Report column 209W which provided figures for 2007-08 and 2006-07 respectively. The detail for 2005-06 is not known.

Taxation: Self-Assessment

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the pay band is of the officials in HM Revenue and Customs responsible for the language used in letters sent in pursuance of outstanding tax payments under the self-assessment system.

Stephen Timms: HM Revenue and Customs send a number of letters to customers in pursuit of late self assessment tax payments. Many of these are sent automatically by our self assessment and debt management systems while some are specific to individual customers and written by our case workers. The grade of the officers responsible for drafting the letters varies from Administrative Officer to Senior Civil Servant.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Biofuels

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what information his Department holds on the emissions profile of the biofuel B30K.

Joan Ruddock: The emission profile for B30K that the Department holds was established using the methodology developed by our SAP contractor BRE for calculating the carbon emission factors of fuels and the specific information provided for B30K by the Oil Firing Technical Association.
	The methodology, and the carbon emission values so calculated, formed part of the consultation that was recently undertaken by DECC on the proposed changes to the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP). We will be reporting on the consultation shortly.

Biofuels

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what information his Department holds on  (a) the likely geographical sources of the cooking oil to be recycled and  (b) the proportion of palm oil that will be used to recycle into the biofuel B30K.

Joan Ruddock: Reporting under the Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation indicates that sources of used cooking oil used in the UK are primarily of UK origin but also include sources from Europe. We have no information on the amount of palm oil that is recycled as used cooking oil for the production of biofuels. Virgin palm oil currently accounts for 10 per cent. of biofuel used in the UK, of which, 5 per cent. from Malaysia, 2 per cent. from Indonesia and 3 per cent. unknown.

Biofuels

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what evidence his Department has on the boiler efficiencies of oil-fired systems using the biofuel B30K which underpin the carbon output rating attributed to it in table 12 of the draft SAP 2009.

Joan Ruddock: While the Department and our SAP contractors have been working with the Oil Firing Technical Association (OFTEC) as they have developed B30K, we have yet to receive any formal evidence of performance. None the less, on the basis of the field trials and the comparative boiler efficiency tests undertaken, OFTEC claim there are no impacts on boiler efficiency providing the boiler is properly set up for the fuel in question. However, they have yet to formally publish the report that details their findings.
	Table 12 of the draft SAP 2009 consultation relates to the carbon intensity of the fuels that may be used in homes.

Carbon Emissions: Standards

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what representations he has made to seek the adoption by other countries of emissions reduction targets similar to those adopted by the UK.

Joan Ruddock: The United Kingdom has made clear that it wishes to see global emissions reductions consistent with limiting global temperature increases to 2 degrees Celsius. The UK has committed to reducing its emission by 80 per cent. on 1990 levels by 2050. This is consistent with the EU's commitment to reduce its emissions by 20 per cent. below 1990 levels by 2020. The EU is prepared to increase this to a 30 per cent. reduction in the context of a global agreement in Copenhagen, provided the other developed countries commit themselves to comparable emissions reductions and that developing countries contribute adequately according to their responsibilities and respective capabilities. In this context the UK is calling for developed countries to set mid-term emissions reduction targets that, collectively, would reduce developed country emissions by 25-40 per cent. on 1990 levels; and is calling for developing countries to take significant action to reduce their emissions growth by 15-30 per cent. below 1990 levels by 2020. The UK has made these representations in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, other international forums including the Major Economies Forum, G8 and G20, and in bilateral contacts.

Climate Change

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many officials of his Department will attend the forthcoming Copenhagen climate change summit.

Joan Ruddock: We have not yet determined who will attend the Copenhagen conference from the Department of Energy and Climate Change, so we cannot say with certainty how many Ministers or officials will be on the delegation. This will depend largely on the state of international negotiations at the time.
	We should have a more comprehensive idea of needs to attend the conference in the next few weeks.

Climate Change: Publicity

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what consultation he undertook before authorising an advertising campaign aimed at those who are sceptical about the existence of climate change.

Joan Ruddock: The Department has designed the advertising campaign observing due diligence at all stages. The campaign has been designed following qualitative research insights which demonstrate awareness of climate change is high, but that genuine understanding and literacy is low. The advertising has been produced following research among consumers to assess the most motivating messages and creative route.

Electricity

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps his Department is taking to reduce the amount of electricity which is lost as part of the electricity transmission process; and if he will meet representatives of the electricity generation industry to discuss this.

David Kidney: An industry process under the Balancing Settlement Code Panel is currently considering the merits of introducing a locational element to the methodology used to calculate the way generators and suppliers pay for transmission losses. This could potentially provide a greater financial incentive for electricity generators and electricity suppliers to limit transmission losses. An assessment report is due in January 2010 and a final decision will be taken by Ofgem.

Energy Supply

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps Ofgem is taking in respect of  (a) measures to reduce climate change and  (b) ensuring the security of the UK's energy supply; and what further steps it plans to take on each such matter in the next five years.

David Kidney: These are matters for Ofgem. I have asked the chairman to respond directly to the hon. Member, and place a copy in the Libraries of the House.

Party Conferences

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether any of his Department's non-departmental public bodies sent representatives to attend one or more political party conferences in 2009.

Joan Ruddock: The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority sent two communications managers to the Liberal Democrat, Labour and Conservative party conferences.
	The Chair of the Fuel Poverty Advisory Group attended the Labour and Conservative party conferences. He was unable to attend the Liberal Democrat conference due to existing personal commitments.
	No other NDPBs sent representatives to party conferences.

Renewable Energy

Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the breakdown is of Government spending on renewable energy estimated in the Pre-Budget Report to be £5.8 billion over the period of the Comprehensive Spending Review.

David Kidney: The 2008 pre-Budget report stated that Government policies are driving £50 billion of investment in the low-carbon sector over three years to 2011.
	This brings together Government spending, fiscal support and private investment driven by Government regulation in energy efficiency, renewable energy technologies and public transport.
	While the report did not provide a specific estimate of the level of renewables investment driven by Government policies, we estimated it to be approximately £5.8 billion.
	This estimate was based on the additional investment driven by changes to the Renewable Obligation (RO). Approximately a quarter of this additional investment resulted directly from the increase in the level of RO support with the remainder coming from increased private sector investment resulting from the changes.
	This represented a highly conservative estimate of the impact of the Government's renewable policies on investment over the CSR period. For example, it did not include:
	the impact on investment resulting from the existing RO support already in place before 2008; and
	support for renewables investment through the EU Emissions Trading Scheme and 'R and D tax credits' for low carbon R and D.

Renewable Energy: Food

Andrew Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to paragraph 170 of the impact assessment for the UK Renewable Energy Strategy 2009, by how much he expects  (a) food and  (b) biomass prices to rise as a consequence of implementation of the strategy.

David Kidney: As we stated in the impact assessment, Government have not quantified the impacts on food prices and biomass for the rural sector. For the purpose of modelling the impact of the Renewable Energy Strategy, we used different scenarios for future biomass costs-both increasing and decreasing over time-to reflect the range of uncertainty involved (E4Tech (2009) Biomass supply curve for the UK). Future biomass prices are likely to be driven by global supply and demand trends as well as developments in the UK market.

Solar Power: East Midlands

Patrick McLoughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much funding his Department has allocated to promoting take-up of solar panel usage in  (a) West Derbyshire and  (b) the East Midlands since it was established; and if he will make a statement.

David Kidney: holding answer 26 October 2009
	The Low Carbon Buildings Programme (LCBP) which is our £131 million grant programme offering funding for small scale onsite energy technologies to householders, public, community and not-for profit-sectors. Solar PV has benefited significantly under the programme. To date we have committed over £44 million to solar PV installations under the programme.
	The amount of funding that has been allocated and paid in West Derbyshire and the East Midlands is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Low carbon buildings programme Phase 1: Solar PV 
			   All  a llocated  Currently  c ommitted  Paid 
			  Householders
			 East Midlands 572,378.22 513,106.22 335,086. 22 
			 West Derbyshire 19,572.00 17,500.00 0.00 
			  Communities
			 East Midlands 21,581.28 0.00 0.00 
			 West Derbyshire 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			  Stream 2A
			 East Midlands 114,743.25 54,419.85 44,287.45 
			 West Derbyshire 26,922.60 9,869.60 9,869.60 
			  Stream 2B
			 East Midlands 54,469.00 0.00 0.00 
			 West Derbyshire 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			  Solar Thermal
			  Householders
			 East Midlands 237,654.00 183,200.00 163,200.00 
			 West Derbyshire 5,200.00 4,800.00 4,000.00 
			  Communities
			 East Midlands 39,880. 55 35,388.00 35,388.00 
			 West Derbyshire 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			  Stream 2A
			 East Midlands 36,445.75 36,445.75 26,042.15 
			 West Derbyshire 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			  Stream 2B
			 East Midlands 26,454.00 0.00 0.00 
			 West Derbyshire 0.00 0.00 0.00 
		
	
	
		
			  Low carbon buildings programme Phase 2: Solar PV 
			   Allocated  Paid 
			  Derbyshire   
			 LCBP2 505,413 220,628 
			 LCBP2e 51,082 - 
			
			  Solar Thermal   
			  Derbyshire   
			 LCBP2 35,226 5,985 
			 LCBP2e 51,082 7,034,98 
			
			  Solar PV   
			  East Midland   
			 LCBP2 1,329,544 590,110 
			 LCBP2e 199,051.65 - 
			
			  Solar Thermal   
			  East Midland   
			 LCBP2 761,126 104,903 
			 LCBP2e 121,438.83 - 
			  121,438.83 - 
		
	
	We will be implementing a nationwide awareness raising campaign in November with a series of 'road shows' that are scheduled to take place in November 2009 in all English Regions, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
	The Government are working with the Energy Saving Trust to promote the Low Carbon Buildings Programme household funding stream, raising awareness of the funds that remain available to successful applicants. To date, we have used both their advice network and market segmentation models to target those that are most likely to install microgeneration technologies and apply for grants.
	We have set up a network of local energy advice centres providing information and advice and set up an Act on CO2 helpline and website to inform and assist consumers
	We are working with Building Research Establishment, the programme manager for Phase 2 of the LCBP, to deliver a series of regional events and a positive marketing programme to promote the programme to eligible organisations.

Warm Front Scheme

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what proportion of applicants for Warm Front grants were asked to make a contribution towards the cost of works in each English region in 2007-08.

Joan Ruddock: The following table shows the proportion of Warm Front applicants who received assistance and who were asked to make a contribution in scheme year 2007-08.
	
		
			  Contribution requested 
			  Government region  Percentage 
			 East Midlands 28 
			 East of England 24 
			 Greater London 22 
			 North East England 20 
			 North West England 21 
			 South East England 23 
			 South West England 29 
			 West Midlands 31 
			 Yorkshire and Humber 23

Warm Front Scheme: Leeds

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent estimate he has made of the number of pensioner householders in Leeds West constituency who have received grants under the Warm Front scheme.

David Kidney: The Warm Front Scheme assisted 1,660 households in the Leeds, West constituency between 1 June 2005 and 24 August 2009. 978 of these were for householders over 60.
	Figures prior to June 2005 are not available.

Warm Front Scheme: Leeds

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many households in Leeds West constituency had received grants under the Warm Front scheme at the latest date for which figures are available; and what the average additional amount paid by such householders was for services provided under the scheme.

David Kidney: The Warm Front Scheme assisted 1,660 households in the Leeds, West constituency between 1 June 2005 and 24 August 2009.
	Of these, 228 installations required a contribution, the average value of which was £243.19.
	Figures prior to June 2005 are not available.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Animal Experiments: Scotland

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the primary purpose was of each  (a) procedure and  (b) field of research carried out on animals in Scotland in 2008 under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 involving (i) fish, (ii) pigs and (iii) genetically modified animals; and what the reasons were for the increase in the number of procedures carried out on (A) fish, (B) pigs and (C) genetically modified animals in Scotland in that year in relation to the previous year.

Meg Hillier: The information available is provided in the following tables. Data by primary purpose are provided for both 2007 and 2008 to indicate the reasons for increases, i.e. in which primary purposes the numbers of procedures increased. The overall level of scientific procedures is determined by a number of factors, including the economic climate and global trends in scientific endeavour. Data by field of research are only collected for non-toxicological procedures.
	Information relating to each individual procedure is not available, to protect statistical confidentiality, in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.
	
		
			  Scientific procedures by species of animal and primary purpose of the procedure, Scotland 2008 and 2007 
			  Number of procedures 
			   Pig  Fish  GM Animals( 1) 
			   2008  2007  2008  2007  2008  2007 
			 Fundamental biological research 372 362 171,489 36,812 70,229 74,056 
			 Applied studies-human medicine or dentistry 158 149 58 - 2,373 2,792 
			 Applied studies-veterinary medicine 219 191 7,224 11,263 - 19 
			 Protection of man, animals or the environment - - 996 1,742 - 11 
			 Education - - - - - - 
			 Training - - - - - - 
			 Direct diagnosis - - - - 4 15 
			 Breeding 134 63 4,668 1,772 104,739 74,295 
			 Total 883 765 184,435 51,589 177,345 151,188 
			 (1) GM animals totals includes procedures using mice, rats, pigs, domestic fowl, fish. 
		
	
	
		
			  Scientific procedures (non-toxicology) by field of research, Scotland 2008 
			  Number of procedures 
			   Pig  Fish  GM Animals( 1) 
			 Anatomy 134 5,788 21,096 
			 Physiology 212 135,545 16,794 
			 Biochemistry - - 7,583 
			 Psychology - 1,144 2,857 
			 Pathology - 1,221 5,831 
			 Immunology 90 1,507 39,543 
			 Microbiology 38 3,605 406 
			 Parasitology - 2,132 185 
			 Pharmacology 18 - 5,136 
			 Pharmaceutical R and D 4 - 2,372 
			 Therapeutics 30 - 2,325 
			 Clinical medicine - - 840 
			 Clinical surgery - - 48 
			 Genetics - 1,380 9,178 
			 Molecular biology - 320 12,579 
			 Cancer research - 1,473 43,296 
			 Nutrition - 332 150 
			 Zoology - 662 - 
			 Botany - - - 
			 Animal Science - - 6,409 
			 Ecology - 24 - 
			 Animal welfare 52 - - 
			 Other purpose - 23,224 147 
			 Total 578 178,357 176,775 
			 (1) GM animals totals includes procedures using mice, rats, pigs, domestic fowl, fish.

Antisocial Behaviour

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made in implementing each of the measures to improve social cohesion set out in the booklet, Anti-social Behaviour Enforcement and Support Tools: An information pack for members of Parliament, dated January 2009; and what criteria he uses to measure the effectiveness of implementation of the measures.

Alan Campbell: Since 1998 when antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) were introduced we have introduced a wide range of tools and powers to tackle antisocial behaviour. These measures are being used by practitioners to bring relief to communities across the country. Local agencies decide on the most appropriate intervention to use in each case. The overall aim is to tackle antisocial behaviour at the earliest opportunity with the most appropriate tool.
	Three independent reports including the Home Affairs Select Committee report (2005), the Audit Commission report (May 2006) and the NAO report (December 2006) have confirmed our approach to tackling antisocial behaviour is working. The NAO report found that 65 per cent. of people desisted from ASB after one intervention and nine out of 10 had desisted after three interventions.
	The Home Office has commissioned research into the comparative effectiveness of all the antisocial behaviour tools and powers which is due for publication next year.

Antisocial Behaviour

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many neighbourhood policing action squads have been established to tackle anti-social behaviour;
	(2)  what steps his Department has taken to meet the Government's new objectives for neighbourhood policing teams in relation to anti-social behaviour.

Alan Johnson: Neighbourhood policing is central to providing a police service that is responsive to local crime and antisocial behaviour (ASB) concerns. Since 2002 we have invested over £1 billion to ensure that there is now a neighbourhood policing team in every neighbourhood, including over 13,500 officers and 16,000 PCSOs, with a range of tools and powers to deal with ASB. These teams engage with their local communities to understand their concerns-which will usually include ASB-and work with partners to address them. Between March 2008 and March 2009 public confidence that police and local agencies are dealing with local crime and ASB matters has increased from 45 per cent. to 49 per cent.
	In December 2008, we introduced the policing pledge, which outlines commitments that the police service have made to the public, including minimum response times, holding monthly meetings to understand local concerns, providing monthly updates on action taken to deal with those concerns and visiting victims of crime. I welcome the recent inspection by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) of the delivery of the pledge, in each police force ensuring that the public know how well their force is doing. Police authorities and forces are now working to respond to the challenge this has set them.
	The Government are clear that there is more to be done. On 13 October I announced a package of measures to improve the collective response to ASB. This includes extra support for victims of antisocial behaviour and a crackdown on those that breach ASBOs and new local minimum service standards agreed with the public that outline what they should expect from councils, police and social landlords to deal with intimidation.
	In 62 priority CDRPs, support and advice will be provided from a Home Office regional delivery manager, supported by the ASB action squad of expert practitioners, to make sure that the police, councils and housing are working together effectively to tackle ASB. All 62 partnerships have had face to face meetings, five partnerships have already been visited to begin the assessment process and the remaining 57 are due to be visited in the next six weeks.
	The forthcoming Policing White Paper will set out the next steps on neighbourhood policing.

Antisocial Behaviour Orders

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps may be taken by the relevant authorities in respect of the parents of young people who breach their anti-social behaviour orders.

Alan Johnson: Breach of an antisocial behaviour order (ASBO) is a criminal offence. Currently whenever a child is in court convicted of a criminal offence, the court must consider making a parenting order where the court's assessment is that this is in the interests of preventing a repetition of antisocial behaviour by the child.
	We are proposing to bring in legislation to make a parenting order mandatory when a child (aged 10 to 15) breaches an ASBO. In tandem with this we are also proposing that children being considered for an ASBO receive a parenting needs assessment.

Antisocial Behaviour Orders: Coventry

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many anti-social behaviour orders were issued in Coventry in  (a) 2008 and  (b) 1997; and what the most common reason was for their issue in each such year.

Alan Campbell: Antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) became available from 1 April 1999. Data on the number issued currently covers the period to the end of 2007. These data are not available below Criminal Justice System (CJS) area level.
	Data on the number of ASBOs issued held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform do not include information detailing the specific nature of the antisocial behaviour which resulted in the court issuing the ASBO. This could only be determined by examining individual court files which could be achieved only at disproportionate cost.

Antisocial Behaviour Orders: Derbyshire

Natascha Engel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many anti-social behaviour orders have been issued in  (a) Derbyshire and  (b) North East Derbyshire constituency since 1998.

Alan Campbell: Antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) became available from 1 April 1999. The latest available data on the number of ASBOs issued cover the period 1 April 1999 to 31 December 2007. These data are not available below Criminal Justice System (CJS) area level.
	Between 1 April 1999 and 31 December 2007, a total of 200 ASBOs were issued at all courts in the Derbyshire CJS area.

Crime: North Yorkshire

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the recorded rate of each category of crime was in North Yorkshire in each year since 2002-03.

Alan Campbell: The information requested is given in the following tables.
	
		
			  Offences recorded by the police in North Yorkshire( 1)  and rates per 1,000 population 
			   2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			  Offence group  No. of offences  Rate per 1,000 population  No. of offences  Rate per 1,000 population  No. of offences  Rate per 1,000 population  No. of offences  Rate per 1,000 population 
			 Violence against the person 8,108 11 9,610 13 12,045 16 11,473 15 
			 Sexual offences 504 1 596 1 563 1 631 1 
			 Robbery 356 0 395 1 328 0 240 0 
			 Burglary 11,511 15 11,062 15 7,759 10 7,324 10 
			 Offences against vehicle 10,697 14 10,614 14 7,463 10 7,938 10 
			 Other theft offences 17,663 24 18,792 25 14,721 19 14,068 18 
			 Fraud and forgery 2,987 4 3,330 4 2,796 4 1,884 2 
			 Criminal damage 13,168 18 14,732 20 13,573 18 12,723 17 
			 Drug offences 1,582 2 1,624 2 1,678 2 1,899 2 
			 Other offences 663 1 718 1 689 1 670 1 
			 Total 67,239 89 71,473 95 61,615 81 58,850 77 
		
	
	
		
			   2006-07  2007-08  2008-09 
			  Offence group  No.  of offences  Rate per 1,000 population  No.  of offences  Rate per 1,000 population  No.  of offences  Rate per 1,000 population 
			 Violence against the person 10,087 13 9,472 12 8,136 10 
			 Sexual offences 590 1 587 1 549 1 
			 Robbery 278 0 248 0 247 0 
			 Burglary 6,836 9 6,264 8 6,596 8 
			 Offences against vehicle 7,057 9 5,578 7 5,581 7 
			 Other theft offences 13,242 17 12,647 16 12,867 16 
			 Fraud and forgery 1,575 2 1,379 2 1,170 1 
			 Criminal damage 12,509 16 11,023 14 10,764 14 
			 Drug offences 1,730 2 2,158 3 1,997 3 
			 Other offences 622 1 588 1 656 1 
			 Total 54,526 71 49,944 64 48,563 62 
			 (1) Figures for North Yorkshire have been revised since the publication of the annual figures in July 2009.

Detection Rates: North Yorkshire

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the detection clear-up rate was for each category of crime in North Yorkshire in each year since 2002-03.

Alan Campbell: The information requested is given in the table.
	It should be noted that non-sanction detections that contribute to the percentage change in detection rates have fallen in recent years reflecting a significant shift by many police forces away from recording detections of crime where no further action is taken. For this reason overall detection rates over time are not fully comparable.
	From 2 April 2007 the rules governing recording of non-sanction detections were revised to reduce the scope within which they can be claimed to a very limited set of circumstance. In terms of offences detected by the police, the preferred measure is now to use sanction detections.
	Detection rates are a ratio of crimes detected in a period to crimes recorded in a period. They are not based on tracking whether individual crimes recorded in a period have eventually been detected.
	
		
			  Detection rates for offences recorded and detected in North Yorkshire 
			  Percentage 
			   2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09 
			 Violence against the person 67 67 77 75 70 69 59 
			 Sexual offences 51 48 46 47 44 37 37 
			 Robbery 21 32 31 31 26 29 31 
			 Burglary 11 13 13 14 11 12 13 
			 Offences against vehicle 6 9 9 11 8 8 11 
			 Other theft offences 24 25 27 28 28 28 28 
			 Fraud and forgery 48 46 56 50 49 57 52 
			 Criminal damage 14 15 19 20 19 18 17 
			 Drug offences 102 100 98 98 99 87 95 
			 Other offences 94 96 89 93 77 87 84 
			 Total 26 28 35 35 33 33 31 
			  Note: Offences detected in a given year may have been initially recorded in an earlier year and for this reason some percentages may exceed 100.

DNA: Databases

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what proportion of  (a) white,  (b) black and  (c) Asian (i) men and (b) women aged (A) 10 to 15, (B) 16 to 17 and (C) 18 or more years old were on the national DNA database in each year since 2001.

Alan Johnson: The national DNA database (NDNAD) is constantly changing as profiles are added and deleted. It is not possible to produce information retrospectively on the state of the database in past years, unless this was collected by statistics produced at the time. The information sought on the number of those on the NDNAD by the ethnicity, gender and age groups specified is available for 31 March 2009 and 31 March 2008 and is provided in table 1. Some information is also available for 31 March 2007, and is provided in table 2. The information sought is not available for years before 2007.
	The tables show the number of profiles held, which is not the same as the number of individuals. This is because some profiles are replicates i.e. more than one profile is held for one individual. This may occur if, for example, an individual gives different names, or different versions of their name, on separate arrests. As at 31 March 2009, the replication rate on the NDNAD as a whole was 13.5 per cent. The tables show data on profiles loaded by all police forces.
	It is not possible to calculate accurately the proportion of members of ethnic groups in the population as a whole who are on the NDNAD because the data held on the NDNAD are not directly comparable with census population data. The NDNAD does not hold self-reported ethnicity data on arrested persons who have a DNA sample taken, but on their 'ethnic appearance'. The ethnic appearance data is based on the judgment of the police officer and is recorded for police intelligence purposes to assist in subsequent identification. It uses six broad ethnic categories (plus 'unknown') whereas census data is based on 16 ethnic groups self-reported by individuals.
	
		
			  Table 1 
			  Gender  Ethnic appearance  Current age as at 31 March 2009  Profiles retained at 31 March 2009  Current age as at 31 March 2008  Profiles retained at 31 March 2008 
			  Female Unknown 10-15 1,855 10-15 2,929 
			   16-17 4,116 16-17 5,099 
			   18+ 89,878 18+ 83,266 
			  Asian 10-15 914 10-15 888 
			   16-17 1,598 16-17 1,384 
			   18+ 33,839 18+ 27,807 
			  Black 10-15 2,859 10-15 2,902 
			   16-17 4,274 16-17 4,109 
			   18+ 76,008 18+ 63,843 
			  Chinese, Japanese or SE Asian 10-15 83 10-15 93 
			   16-17 203 16-17 199 
			   18+ 9,340 18+ 7,472 
			  Middle Eastern 10-15 70 10-15 50 
			   16-17 89 16-17 84 
			   18+ 3,290 18+ 2,689 
			  White-North European 10-15 32,912 10-15 36,756 
			   16-17 52,699 16-17 53,528 
			   18+ 813,093 18+ 701,320 
			  White-South European 10-15 636 10-15 617 
			   16-17 868 16-17 721 
			   18+ 17,621 18+ 14,330 
			   
			  Male Unknown 10-15 4,537 10-15 7,313 
			   16-17 10,139 16-17 13,538 
			   18+ 382,983 18+ 360,727 
			  Asian 10-15 4,314 10-15 4,281 
			   16-17 7,625 16-17 7,275 
			   18+ 244,229 18+ 208,640 
			  Black 10-15 7,277 10-15 7,038 
			   16-17 11,242 16-17 11,062 
			   18+ 310,471 18+ 274,282 
			  Chinese, Japanese or SE Asian 10-15 216 10-15 197 
			   16-17 443 16-17 378 
			   18+ 25,019 18+ 20,168 
			  Middle Eastern 10-15 500 10-15 323 
			   16-17 999 16-17 739 
			   18+ 36,300 18+ 30,467 
			  White-North European 10-15 72,265 10-15 81,248 
			   16-17 109,096 16-17 114,249 
			   18+ 3,115,325 18+ 2,790,097 
			  White-South European 10-15 1,335 10-15 1,187 
			   16-17 1,921 16-17 1,690 
			   18+ 82,818 18+ 70,090 
			   
			  Gender not recorded Unknown 10-15 45 10-15 46 
			   16-17 73 16-17 258 
			   18+ 34,449 18+ 34,460 
			  Asian 10-15 18 10-15 17 
			   16-17 34 16-17 48 
			   18+ 591 18+ 476 
			  Black 10-15 44 10-15 26 
			   16-17 33 16-17 34 
			   18+ 487 18+ 376 
			  Chinese, Japanese or SE Asian 10-15 1 10-15 1 
			   16-17 2 16-17 2 
			   18+ 83 18+ 72 
			  Middle Eastern 10-15 1 10-15 1 
			   16-17 4 16-17 2 
			   18+ 106 18+ 94 
			  White-North European 10-15 336 10-15 419 
			   16-17 458 16-17 475 
			   18+ 4,868 18+ 4,289 
			  White-South European 10-15 11 10-15 9 
			   16-17 5 16-17 11 
			   18+ 164 18+ 122 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2 
			  Data as at 31 March 2007  Profiles retained 
			  Current age as at 31 March 2007  
			 10-15 151,882 
			 16-17 206,449 
			 18+ 4,069,684 
			   
			   
			  Ethnic appearance (not including those with gender not recorded)  
			 Unknown 415,793 
			 Asian 210,801 
			 Black 315,779 
			 Chinese, Japanese or SE Asian 22,803 
			 Middle Eastern 29,261 
			 White-North European 3,316,161 
			 White-South European 78,219 
			   
			  Gender  
			 Male 3,524,657 
			 Female 864,160

DNA: Databases

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people now aged over 10 years old on the national DNA database had their profile added to the database when they were under the age of 10; and how many were in each age group under 10 years old at the time their profile was added.

Alan Johnson: Government policy is that English and Welsh police forces should not hold profiles of children under 10 on the national DNA database (NDNAD). Following the announcement of this policy on 16 December 2008, profiles of all those who were under 10 at the time a DNA sample was taken from them were removed, regardless of whether their current age was under or over 10. The national DNA database is regularly monitored to confirm that this policy remains in effect.

Firearms

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 24 June 2009,  Official Report, column 886W, on firearms, whether figures are available for incidents excluding those relating to air weapons; and what the equivalent figures are for 2008-09.

Alan Johnson: I can confirm that the data provided in the answers of 24 June 2009,  Official Report, column 886W and 15 October 2009,  Official Report, column 1054W, referred to offences involving firearms excluding air weapons, despite the table headings indicating otherwise due to a typographical error. Available data relate to offences recorded in the period 1998-99 up to and including 2007-08, and are reproduced in the following table.
	Provisional data show that 8,184 firearm offences (excluding air weapons) were recorded in England and Wales in 2008-09. Data at police force area level are scheduled to be published in the January 2010 Home Office Statistical Bulletin "Homicides, Firearm Offences and Intimate Violence 2008/09", an internet-only release that will be available at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/whatsnew1.html
	Data on offences involving firearms including air weapons for the period 1998-99 to 2007-08 were provided in the answer of 21 April 2009,  Official Report, column 593W.
	Firearms are taken to be involved in a crime if they are fired, used as a blunt instrument against a person, or used as a threat.
	The National Crime Recording Standard was introduced on 1 April 2002. Firearm offences data for the years up to and including 2001-02 are not directly comparable with those for later years.
	
		
			  Crimes recorded by the police in which firearms (excluding air weapons) were reported to have been used( 1)  by region and police force area: England and Wales, 1998-99 to 2007-08 , n umber of offences 
			  Recorded crime 
			  Police force area  1998-99( 2)  1999-2000  2000-01  2001-02( 3)  2002-03( 4)  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			  North East Region   
			 Cleveland 20 26 16 24 18 45 37 41 19 15 
			 Durham 13 40 18 19 16 15 21 18 14 45 
			 Northumbria 76 107 99 86 103 169 182 137 111 78 
			
			  North West Region   
			 Cheshire 32 22 44 50 31 44 61 71 41 59 
			 Cumbria 11 5 13 9 13 11 26 18 21 18 
			 Greater Manchester 647 875 935 1,361 1,240 1,275 1,268 1,200 993 1,160 
			 Lancashire 50 78 59 103 66 58 259 372 364 349 
			 Merseyside 286 240 278 299 318 483 491 485 410 398 
			  Yorkshire and the Humber Region   
			 Humberside 76 61 69 63 68 68 174 108 117 58 
			 North Yorkshire 11 8 9 28 18 23 13 15 14 17 
			 South Yorkshire 75 114 129 170 153 127 185 301 211 202 
			 West Yorkshire 193 191 335 332 333 269 318 355 319 332 
			
			  East Midlands Region   
			 Derbyshire 52 65 72 58 73 75 149 109 83 70 
			 Leicestershire 98 71 58 74 174 141 123 89 109 134 
			 Lincolnshire 16 19 24 22 37 26 90 72 45 41 
			 Northamptonshire 54 48 40 55 107 123 113 128 159 164 
			 Nottinghamshire 112 173 157 204 264 233 303 277 196 240 
			
			  West Midlands Region   
			 Staffordshire 23 53 108 116 131 108 144 128 94 123 
			 Warwickshire 20 14 39 53 62 102 73 80 90 107 
			 West Mercia 38 36 41 54 48 62 151 115 58 124 
			 West Midlands 407 664 817 1,288 1,101 1,138 959 946 979 974 
			
			  East of England Region   
			 Bedfordshire 46 56 48 82 86 89 94 103 86 83 
			 Cambridgeshire 35 43 31 49 57 34 50 34 24 30 
			 Essex 47 61 77 98 148 145 193 280 255 260 
			 Hertfordshire 30 36 36 69 139 138 139 114 89 112 
			 Norfolk 34 24 20 26 36 33 23 29 34 43 
			 Suffolk 15 18 22 15 28 45 59 58 42 38 
			
			  London Region( 5) 2,034 2,945 3,036 4,199 4,202 3,891 3,697 3,884 3,331 3,399 
			
			  South East Region   
			 Hampshire 38 52 49 58 97 130 148 85 122 100 
			 Kent 76 109 108 60 64 65 100 142 92 82 
			 Surrey 35 42 52 40 34 88 63 87 60 70 
			 Sussex 115 119 110 155 136 82 67 85 84 69 
			 Thames Valley 96 107 198 267 362 421 437 401 332 322 
			
			  South West Region   
			 Avon and Somerset 71 103 100 131 119 123 196 167 138 116 
			 Devon and Cornwall 75 81 64 52 36 84 189 174 132 111 
			 Dorset 11 12 14 34 17 45 49 27 28 21 
			 Gloucestershire 22 21 23 89 92 108 87 77 65 43 
			 Wiltshire 19 10 13 26 60 53 49 43 69 49 
			
			  Wales   
			 Dyfed-Powys 16 13 26 26 17 37 40 21 17 25 
			 Gwent 26 19 11 18 52 74 85 53 33 47 
			 North Wales 27 10 6 6 18 11 60 88 98 53 
			 South Wales 31 52 67 56 74 47 104 71 67 84 
			
			 England and Wales 5,209 6,843 7,471 10,024 10,248 10,338 11,069 11,088 9,645 9,865 
			 England and Wales (excluding London Region) 3,175 3,898 4,435 5,825 6,046 6,447 7,372 7,204 6,314 6,466 
			 (1) Firearms are taken to be involved in a crime if they are fired, used as a blunt instrument against a person or used as a threat. (2) There was a change in the counting rules for recorded crime on 1 April 1998. (3) Figures for some crime categories may have been inflated by some police forces implementing the principles of the National Crime Recording Standard before 1 April 2002. (4) The National Crime Recording Standard was introduced on 1 April 2002, which may have resulted in inflated figures for some crime categories. Figures before and after this date are not directly comparable. (5) City of London and Metropolitan police force areas.

Fixed Penalties

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance his Department has issued on  (a) the use of fixed penalty notices and  (b) the level of fines issued by fixed penalty for (i) shoplifting, (ii) sexual offences and (iii) household waste offences.

Claire Ward: I have been asked to reply.
	The Secretary of State for Justice issued revised operational guidance to police forces on 16 July 2009, restricting the use of penalty notices for disorder for shop theft to first-time offenders who are not substance abusers, where the value of the goods is less than £100, and normally where the goods have been recovered. The guidance can be found at
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/criminal-justice-police-act-retail-pnd.htm
	The level of the penalty is fixed by law at £80 for adults and £40 for juveniles.
	Fixed penalty notices cannot be issued for sexual offences.
	Following the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005, DEFRA issued guidance on the use of fixed penalty notices (FPNs) for a range of offences, including those related to waste receptacles. A link to the guidance, as well as additional information on environmental FPNS is as follows.
	http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/quality/local/legislation/fpn/index.htm

Identity Cards: Costs

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost of the  (a) design and  (b) development of identity cards was in each of the last eight years.

Meg Hillier: Since the merger of the Home Office Identity Cards programme and the UK Passport Service to create the Identity and Passport Service on 1 April 2006, projects to deliver passports including facial images and fingerprints, identity cards and other improvements have been necessarily combined. As much of the technology and operational processes needed to implement identity cards are also required for the implementation of these new passports, this is the most cost-effective way to deliver these initiatives.
	Much of the work conducted by Identity and Passport Service cannot be categorised, either financially or operationally, as contributing towards either the introduction of passports with facial images and fingerprints or identity cards alone. The work is accounted for as future development projects. Total spend since April 2006 to September 2009 on future development projects encompassing the NIS is £216 million. The spend on future development projects in the 2006-07 financial year amounted to £30.9 million. The costs accounted for as future development projects in the 2007-08 financial year were £61.7 million, £81.5 million in 2008-09 and approximately £42 million for the period April to September 2009.
	Between the financial years 2003-04 and 2005-06, £41.1 million was spent by the Home Office Identity Cards programme in total.

Passports: Fees and Charges

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average  (a) overseas passport fee,  (b) delivery charge and  (c) issue time in days was for renewing a British passport for British citizens resident in each country of the European Union in the latest period for which information is available.

Chris Bryant: I have been asked to reply.
	Straightforward passports must be issued within 10 working days of receipt of the application. Since rationalising the European network and creating three centres of excellence, 96 per cent. of straightforward applications have been issued within this target.
	The cost of passports both in the UK and overseas increased with effect from 3 September 2009. The overseas fees are as follows:
	32-page adult passport: £124.50
	32-page child (under-16) passport: £79.50
	48-page 'jumbo' passport: £150.50
	Emergency passport: £69.00
	Emergency travel document/temporary passport: £89.00.
	The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) issues fewer than 400,000 passports a year from about 60 locations and under HM Treasury rules must recover the full costs of issuing through the passport fee.
	The passport fees are calculated on the basis of the cost of staff, accommodation and overheads involved proportionate to the average time taken worldwide to perform the service. The calculations are carefully scrutinised by the Treasury, approved by the Privy Council and laid before Parliament.
	Fees are set in London in sterling and collected overseas in various currencies depending on the location of the service. The rates of exchange used to calculate the local fee rates allows each overseas Post a small variance to ensure that, in countries where the exchange rate dramatically changes on a daily basis, the embassy does not have to amend its rates daily. The rates of exchange are scrutinised regularly to ensure that Posts do not exceed this.
	For passport applicants applying by post, the average cost of courier delivery varies from country to country and ranges from £7 to £40 depending on location. Customers living in remote locations tend to have to pay more.
	We have a consular business target that 90 per cent. of applications are issued within this processing target. The time it takes the courier to return the new passport to the customer, which in Europe averages two to three working days, is not part of the 10-day target.

Police Community Support Officers: Derbyshire

Natascha Engel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police community support officers have been recruited in  (a) Derbyshire and  (b) North East Derbyshire constituency since 2003.

David Hanson: The available data are provided in the following table. Data are not collected centrally at constituency level.
	
		
			  P olice community support officers (FTE( 1) ) recruited in Derbyshire, 2002-03 to 2008-09( 2, 3) 
			   Number 
			 2002-03 0 
			 2003-04 0 
			 2004-05 26 
			 2005-06 0 
			 2006-07 123 
			 2007-08 22 
			  Notes: 1. Full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of the constituent items. 2. Financial year runs from 1 April to 31 March inclusive. 3. Recruits include those officers joining as police staff standard direct recruits and those who were previously special constables. This excludes police community support officers on transfers from other forces and those rejoining.

Police Custody: Health Services

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his Department has estimated the cost of establishing a permanent medical staff presence in police custody suites.

David Hanson: We have not estimated the cost of establishing a permanent medical staff presence in police custody suites.
	We are however considering our response to Lord Bradley's 'Review of People with Mental Health Problems or Learning Disabilities in the Criminal Justice System' which recommended that the NHS and the police should explore the feasibility of transferring commissioning and budgetary responsibility for health care services in police custody suites to the NHS at the earliest opportunity. The Government will announce their response in due course.

Police: Pensions

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he plans to amend the Police Pension Scheme entitlements in respect of high earners who are members of the scheme.

David Hanson: The provisions of public service pension schemes, including the Police Pension Scheme, are kept under review to ensure they are appropriate and sustainable at all levels.

Police: Public Appointments

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has issued any recent guidance to police authorities on the appointment of Chief Constables; what mechanism exists for the announcement of such appointments; and whether any arrangements are made to inform hon. Members.

David Hanson: A Home Office guidance document on Recruitment and Selection of Chief Police Officers [Home Office Circular 60/2002] was published in 2002 and issued to all police authorities. Police authorities appoint chief constables and hence are responsible for announcing such appointments and informing interested parties as they consider appropriate.

Terrorism: Coventry

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people resident in Coventry were convicted of offences related to terrorism in Coventry in  (a) 2008 and  (b) 1997.

David Hanson: The Home Office collates statistics showing the number of individuals convicted of offences related to terrorism and these were included in a Bulletin published on 13 May 2009 (Statistics on Terrorism Arrests and Outcomes Great Britain 11 September 2001 to 31 March 2008). These statistics, however, do not show the number of offences in a particular area or how many people convicted of offences related to terrorism are residents of that area. The Home Office does not hold statistics which are recorded in this way.

Theft

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases of theft of a purse have occurred in  (a) North Yorkshire,  (b) Yorkshire and the Humber and  (c) England in each year since 1997.

Alan Campbell: The information requested is not available centrally from the recorded crime statistics.
	Offences of theft of a purse would be recorded as theft from the person, robbery of personal property or other theft depending on the circumstances surrounding each individual offence. Such offences cannot be separately identified from other offences recorded within these offence classifications.

Vetting: Schools

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people are expected to be checked by the Independent Safeguarding Authority under the Vetting and Barring Scheme in each of the next five years.

Alan Johnson: Based on the expected number of registrants over the first five years of the Vetting and Barring Scheme's operation and the prevailing offending rates in the sectors covered by the scheme we estimate that between 500,000 and 750,000 individuals will be assessed by the Independent Safeguarding Authority over this period.

Weston Hostel

Oliver Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effect on public safety in West Dorset of the downgrading of Grade 3 Approved Premises Assistants to Grade 2 at Weston Hostel.

Maria Eagle: I have been asked to reply.
	Staff grades at the Weston Approved Premises are currently subject to review by Dorset probation area. Any changes will reflect the results of an established job evaluation process and a full assessment of risk.

CHILDREN, SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES

Academies: Finance

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families in respect of which academy schools committed sponsorship has not been  (a) wholly and  (b) partially received in each of the last five years.

Diana Johnson: There are two types of sponsorship payments for academies: "Traditional Procurement" and "Endowment Model". In the case of "Traditional Procurement Academies", the timing of the receipt of cash sponsorship varies from academy to academy and is agreed as part of the funding agreement between the Department and the academy. In the case of the "Endowment Model", receipts commence only after the academy has opened, and usually over a period of five years. Payments are not required on an annual basis and the question has therefore been answered as set out below.
	The answer contains two tables. The first, headed "Traditional Procurement Academies" shows for each academy where sponsorship is a contribution to capital costs, the total pledged, the amount for which the Department has evidence of receipt, and the amount still expected. In some cases further sponsorship payments may have already been received by the academy trust but not yet reported to the Department. The second table, headed "Endowment Sponsorship Academies" shows for each academy where sponsorship is in the form of contributions to an endowment fund, the amounts pledged, the amounts reported so far to the Department as received and the amount still expected. As with the first category, there may be cases where further sponsorship has already been received by the academy trust but not yet reported to the Department.
	
		
			  Table 1: Traditional Procurement Academies 
			  £000 
			  Academy  Total sponsorship pledged  Total confirmed capital contribution from sponsor as at 24 October 2009  Amount still expected 
			 Manchester 2.00C 1,614 386 
			 Lambeth 2,000 2,000 0 
			 Northampton 2,000 1,648 352 
			 Paddington(1) 1,500 642 858 
			 Salford(1) 1,600 214 1,386 
			 Barnsley(1) 1,500 27 1,473 
			 Walthamstow(1) 1,500 27 1,473 
			 Sheffield Springs 1,500 1,500 0 
			 Sheffield Park 1,000 1,000 0 
			 Stockport(1) 1,500 202 1,298 
			 Manchester William Hulme(1) 950 0 950 
			 North Oxfordshire 1,500 1,536 -36 
			 Swindon 1,500 300 1,200 
			 Peckham 2,000 2,986 -986 
			 Harris Academy South Norwood 2,000 250 1,750 
			 Harris Bermondsey 1,500 493 1,007 
			 Harris Merton 500 0 500 
			 Harris Girls-East Dulwich 500 0 500 
			 Harris Boys-East Dulwich 1,000 0 1,000 
			 Harris Crystal Palace 1,000 0 1,000 
			 The King's Academy 2,000 2,006 -6 
			 Trinity, Doncaster 2,000 2,000 0 
			 Bede Academy 1,500 0 1,500 
			 Haberdashers'-Hatcham 705 705 0 
			 Haberdashers'-Knights 296 296 0 
			 Marlowe 2,735 2,735 0 
			 Folkestone 2,250 1,516 734 
			 Walsall 2,500 2,565 -65 
			 Sandwell 2,794 2,743 51 
			 Telford Madeley 2,000 1,000 1,000 
			 Grace, Solihull 2,000 2,000 0 
			 Coventry Grace Academy 2,000 0 2,000 
			 Enfield 2,000 308 1,692 
			 OASIS-Immingham 2,000 0 2,000 
			 OASIS-Wintringham 2,000 0 2,000 
			 Burlington Danes 1,500 1,500 0 
			 Lambeth 2 Evelyn Grace 2,500 1,000 1,500 
			 Southwark 4 Globe 1,500 1,000 500 
			 Westminster King Solomon 1,500 1,500 0 
			 Bexley 2,410 2,462 -52 
			 Greig 2,000 1,930 70 
			 Unity 2,000 1,948 52 
			 Capital City, Brent 2,000 1,993 7 
			 City of London Southwark 2,000 2,000 0 
			 City Academy, Bristol 2,499 1,670 829 
			 West London, Ealing 2,000 2,000 0 
			 London, Barnet 1,500 1.49C 10 
			 Mossbourne 2,150 1,745 405 
			 Stockley 2,000 1,952 47 
			 St. Francis of Assisi 2,000 1,187 813 
			 The Harefield 1,500 696 804 
			 Dixons CTC 651 975 -324 
			 David Young, Leeds 1,500 1,000 500 
			 Westminster 1,500 1,200 300 
			 Thomas Deacon 2,000 1,970 30 
			 St. Paul's-Greenwich 2,000 200 1,800 
			 John Madejski, Reading 2,000 2,000 0 
			 The Bridge, Hackney 2,000 2,001 -1 
			 Samworth Enterprise 2,443 2,063 380 
			 Petchey 2,000 2,024 -24 
			 North Liverpool 1,000 1,000 0 
			 Bradford Cathedral 1,000 0 1,000 
			 Macmillan 1,250 450 800 
			 Djanogly 0 0 0 
			 St. Matthew Lewisham 2,100 2,100 0 
			 Slough Langley 2,033 2,033 0 
			 Leigh Technology 2,275 2,275 0 
			 St. Mary Magdalene-Islington 2,000 1,500 500 
			 Bristol-Withywood 2,000 2,000 0 
			 Newcastle Excelsior 2,000 2,459 -459 
			 Corby City 2,000 2,000 0 
			 Ashcroft Technology 960 860 100 
			 Landau Forte College 460 462 -2 
			 Q3-Sandwell 2,000 750 1,250 
			 The Chelsea Science Academy 4,000 2,000 2,000 
			 Brooke Weston 468 423 45 
			 John Cabot 378 317 61 
			 Liverpool Belvedere 1,102 1,102 0 
			 City of London KPMG Academy 2,000 2,000 0 
			 Islington-COLA (I) 2,000 2,000 0 
			 Sandwell-RSA 1,500 0 1,500 
			 Darwen Aldridge 2,000 0 2,000 
			 Wren Academy (Barnet) 500 500 0 
			 JCB Academy 1,750 50 1,700 
			 Kingshurst 1,338 0 1,338 
			 Bacons 0 0 0 
			 Hereford Steiner 918 0 918 
			 St. Mark's Academy-Merton 533 0 533 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 1,000 0 1,000 
			 Gateway (Thurrock) 0 0 0 
			 (1) Sponsorship pledged is based on 'reasonable endeavours'. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Endowment Sponsorship Academies( 1) 
			  £ 
			  Academy  Total pledge  Actuals paid  Amount still expected 
			 Barnfield South Academy 2,000,000 100,000 1,900,000 
			 Barnfield West Academy 2,000,000 100,000 1,900,000 
			 St. Aidan's CE Academy ( Eastbourne) 1,500,000 0 1,500,000 
			 George Salter Collegiate Academy 1,500,000 0 1,500,000 
			 Havelock Academy 2,000,000 500,000 1,500,000 
			 Marsh Academy 850,000 750,000 100,000 
			 New Line Learning Academy 1,500,000 650,000 850,000 
			 St. Michael and All Angels CE Academy 2,000,000 500,000 1,500,000 
			 Spires Academy 500,000 0 500,000 
			 Walworth Academy 1,500,000 0 1,500,000 
			 Abraham Darby Academy 750,000 0 750,000 
			 Academy 360 2,250,000 2,000,000 250,000 
			 Archbishop Sentamu Academy 250,000 0 250,000 
			 The Hereford Academy 1,500,000 0 1,500,000 
			 New Charter Academy 2,000,000 2,000,000 0 
			 Oasis Academy Bristol Hengrove 1,500,000 0 1,500,000 
			 Oasis Academy Media City: UK Salford 1,500,000 0 1,500,000 
			 Priory Federation of Academies 2,000,000 0 2,000,000 
			 Richard Rose Federation 2,000,000 0 2,000,000 
			 RSA Academy at Tipton 1,500,000 0 1,500,000 
			 Samworth Church Academy, Nottingham 1,500,000 0 1,500,000 
			 St. Lawrence Academy 750,000 0 750,000 
			 West Lakes Academy 2,000,000 0 2,000,000 
			 All Saints 750.000 0 750.000 
			 Castle View Enterprise Academy 1,350,000 0 1,350,000 
			 Droylsden Academy 2,000,000 0 2,000,000 
			 Fulwood Academy 2,000,000 0 2,000,000 
			 Milton Keynes 2,000,000 500,000 1,500,000 
			 Northumberland CE Academy 1,500,000 0 1,500,000 
			 Nottingham Academy 500,000 0 500,000 
			 Nottingham University Samworth Academy 2,000,000 0 2,000,000 
			 Red House Academy 1,250,000 1,000,000 250,000 
			 Strood Academy 500,000 0 500,000 
			 University Chester Church of England Academy 100,000 0 100,000 
			 (1) Figures are based on each academy's latest annual accounts (which were as at 31 August 2008).

Children In Care

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families whether any financial incentives are available to families caring for a child under a special guardianship order.

Dawn Primarolo: Local authorities have discretion to provide financial support. There is no requirement for a local authority to provide financial support to an individual family. However, where an assessment of a person's need for financial support is made and it is decided that a person has such needs, the local authority must decide whether to provide the support and in making this decision they must act in accordance with regulations and must act reasonably. Financial support can be paid to help secure a suitable special guardianship arrangement where such an arrangement cannot be readily made because of a financial obstacle.

Children's Commissioner for England

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what account he has taken of the report of the Select Committee on Children, Schools and Families in his appointment of the Children's Commissioner for England.

Dawn Primarolo: The Secretary of State gave very careful consideration to the report, in accordance with Cabinet Office guidelines on pre-appointment hearings, before making a decision on the appointment of Maggie Atkinson as Children's Commissioner for England.
	All the comments made by the Committee were taken into account. My right hon. Friend responded in detail to each of the issues in a letter to the chair of the Committee and made a statement on the appointment to the House of Commons on 19 October.
	As set out in his response to the chair of the Committee, he also considered the transcript of the hearing; Maggie Atkinson's career history; and other evidence from the independent recruitment process, which was validated by an independent OPCA (Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments) assessor and which identified Maggie Atkinson as clearly the strongest candidate.
	He concluded that the Committee's report did not put forward new relevant facts concerning Maggie Atkinson's suitability for the post such as to cause him to alter his nomination of her to the post of the Children's Commissioner.

Closed Circuit Television

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  how many households have CCTV cameras installed inside their homes as part of family intervention projects; and whether he plans to extend the use of such cameras;
	(2)  which local authorities have installed CCTV cameras inside homes as part of family intervention projects.

Dawn Primarolo: Family Intervention Projects do not involve CCTV in people's homes. A small number (12) of the projects do have residential units where families are subject to 24 hour supervision with security staff and key workers always on site, but the majority of projects work with families in their own homes. Key workers do 'monitor' families and may visit unannounced, but this does not involve CCTV.

Damian McBride

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families on what date  (a) he and  (b) his special advisers last met Mr Damian McBride in the course of their official duties.

Diana Johnson: Neither the Secretary of State nor his special advisers have met with Mr. McBride in the course of their duties since his resignation on 11 April 2009.

Departmental Energy

Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families whether his Department has a strategy to encourage voltage optimisation on its estate.

Diana Johnson: The Department for Children, Schools and Families has installed Voltage Optimisation in its London building and is now evaluating the return on this investment. The findings of this evaluation will determine whether a roll-out strategy is appropriate for the Department.

Departmental Female Staff

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of his Department's senior civil service staff have been women in each year since the Department was established.

Diana Johnson: Information for the Department since its creation on 28 June 2007 is set out in the following table:
	
		
			   Number of SCS women  Proportion (percentage) 
			 July 2007 to March 2008 57 45 
			 April 2008 to March 2009 69 50

Departmental Postal Services

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families which companies are under contract to his Department to provide mail services; and when each such contract expires.

Diana Johnson: The Department for Children, Schools and Families currently has three contracts to provide mail services across its headquarter buildings located in London, Sheffield, Darlington and Runcorn.
	 Companies and contract expiry dates:
	1. TNT UK Ltd. used for parcel carrier services: contract expires 30 April 2013.
	2. Central Dispatch Services Ltd. used for courier services: contract expires 3 October 2010.
	3. Copley Couriers used for courier services: contract expires 3 October 2010.
	4. Royal Mail is our main provider of mail services.

Departmental Public Expenditure

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families with reference to table 8.4 of his Department's Annual Report 2009, page 175, to which programmes the safeguarding spending budget for 2010-11 has been allocated.

Diana Johnson: holding answer 15 October 2009
	Detail on the constituent parts of the planned safeguarding spending, aggregated in DCSF's departmental annual report 2009, are provided in the table for the year 2010-11.
	
		
			  Departmental allocation, 2010-11 
			   £000 
			 Teenage Pregnancy/Substance Misuse 10,185 
			 Safeguarding Children and Supporting Families Grant 1,130 
		
	
	Please note that additional expenditure on these programmes occurs outside the departmental body as part of local authority spending.

Departmental Public Expenditure

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families with reference to table 8.4 of his Department's annual report 2009, page 175, to which programmes  (a) the 2009-10 and  (b) the 2010-11 budget for child wellbeing has been allocated.

Diana Johnson: Detail on the constituent parts of the Department's Child Wellbeing programmes, which are shown aggregated in DCSF's departmental annual report 2009, are provided in the following table for the years 2009-10 and 2010-11:
	
		
			  Departmental report allocation (£ million) 
			  Child Wellbeing  2009-10  2010-11 
			 Priority Funds-Extension of three/four year old offer 0 340 
			 Children in care proposals 43 48 
			 Joint birth registration 1 10 
			 Commissioning efficiency 17 0 
			 Unaccompanied Asylum Seekers' children/choice protects (receipts) -15 -18 
			 School based mental health 19 0 
			 Teenage pregnancy grant 0 2 
			 Treatment foster care 0 1 
			 Child well being total 65 383

Departmental Public Expenditure

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families with reference to table 8.4 of his Department's Annual Report 2009, page 176, what the breakdown of spending is for youth programmes for 2010-11.

Dawn Primarolo: holding answer 16 October 2009
	The Department's programmes shown aggregated in DCSF's departmental Annual Report 2009 for the year 2010-11 are provided in the following table:
	
		
			  Departmental Report Allocation 
			  Youth programmes  £000 
			 Contact Point (Capital) 35,200 
			 Youth Challenge Fund 4,300 
			 Workforce Development Capital Grant 218 
			 National Youth Agency (NYA)/National Voluntary Youth Agency (NVYO) Grants 8,000 
			 Children and Families Directorate (CFD) Capital Grant 21,334 
			 Voluntary Child Services (VCS) Children Young People and Families (CYPF) Grant & capacity improving 21,802 
			 Communications/Participation/Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAHMS) 864 
			 Vetting and Barring Scheme (VBS)/Integrated Children's System (ICS)/ Making Safeguarding Everyone's Responsibility (MSER)/Adoption Strategy/ Quality Protects (QP) 59,523 
			 Family Fund Trust/Contact a Family 23,322 
			 10 Year Strategy Additions 66,000 
			 Youth Sector Support 40,000 
			 Peer Mentoring 240 
			 Youth Programmes total 280,803

Departmental Visits Abroad

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much his Department has spent on overnight accommodation for  (a) Ministers and  (b) officials while overseas in each of the last three years.

Diana Johnson: The data requested was for the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). DCSF was established under the machinery of Government changes on 28 June 2007, therefore the response covers its predecessor the Department for Education and Skills (DFES).
	Overnight accommodation costs for overseas travel is inclusive for both Ministers and officials. Expotel the Department's contractor since 2007 are unable to separate Minister and officials overseas travel and without incurring disproportionate costs are only able to supply data for a period of two years.
	2007-08-£14,144.00
	2008-09-£34,229.00
	Since 1999 the Government have published an annual list of all visits overseas undertaken by Ministers costing £500 or more during each financial year, this information includes accommodation costs. Copies are available in the Libraries.

Derek Draper and Charlie Whelan

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families when he last  (a) met and  (b) communicated with (i) Mr Derek Draper and (ii) Mr Charlie Whelan in the course of his official duties.

Diana Johnson: The Secretary of State has not had meetings with Mr. Draper or Mr. Whelan as part of his official duties as Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families.

Eating Disorders: Curriculum

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families whether he has given consideration to the inclusion of lessons on body confidence, positive body image and the danger of eating disorders in school curricula.

Dawn Primarolo: The Government take the wellbeing, health and safety of young people very seriously and is committed to ensuring that their time in school equips them with the knowledge, understanding and practical skills to live healthy, safe, fulfilled and responsible lives.
	Furthermore we appreciate the importance of ensuring that young people learn about body image and develop their confidence on this.
	Personal, Social, Health and Economic education (PSHE) at Key Stage 4 (ages 14-16) currently includes a personal wellbeing study programme which deals with body image and eating disorders.

Family Intervention Projects

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many families were participating in a family intervention project on the latest date for which figures are available.

Dawn Primarolo: Provisional data from the Family Intervention Project (FIP) online monitoring information system, maintained by the National Centre for Social Research, suggests that at 16 October 2009 1,282 families were participating in a FIP. Data returns from local authorities to DCSF Families at Risk Division suggest that around 3,600 families have been supported by a FIP since 2006.

Further Education: Admissions

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families whether statutory guidance to be issued under clause 43 of the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill will ensure colleges are able to refuse admission to a potential student felt to pose a threat to the safety of their students or staff; and if he will make a statement.

Iain Wright: Clause 44 of the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill (as amended in Lords Committee (previously clause 43)) is intended to enable local authorities to support young people, particularly the most vulnerable, in securing a suitable learning place in which they can thrive and achieve. It gives local authorities powers to require institutions within the FE sector to provide a specified young person, aged 16-19, with education suitable to their requirements. This will be particularly important within the context of the forthcoming raised participation age in supporting young people to fulfil their duties to participate.
	In exercising these powers, we would expect local authorities to consider both the individual needs of the learner and that of the institution. The power will not undermine providers' duties to safeguard and ensure the health and safety of both their staff and students. It is expected that the statutory guidance made under clause 44 will include guidance on these specific considerations. This guidance will be subject to full public consultation prior to local authorities assuming their responsibilities.

Health Education: Sex

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much and what proportion of the education budget is expected to be used for sex and relationships education in 2009-10.

Diana Johnson: The Department for Children, Schools and Families does not hold this information.
	Sex and relationship education (SRE) in schools is taught as part of the statutory science curriculum and non-statutory Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education framework. Since April 2004, it has been for schools and local authorities to decide on the level of funding to support sex and relationship education in schools taking account of local priorities.

Independent Safeguarding Authority

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many people he estimates will register with the Independent Safeguarding Authority in each of the next five years.

Meg Hillier: I have been asked to reply.
	It is estimated that up to 11.3 million individuals will register with the scheme between 2010 and 2015. The phased approach expects the annual volume to be registered per annum will average out at 2.5 million per annum in years 1-4 and the residual balance in year 5.

Independent Safeguarding Authority: Databases

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what procedures will be used to remove information about an individual from the Independent Safeguarding Authority's database after their death.

Meg Hillier: I have been asked to reply.
	There is presently no routine method of updating the Independent Safeguarding Authority of the death of any individual barred under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act. However this is an area which the Independent Safeguarding Authority intends to address.
	The issue of retention of information for deceased persons is presently being explored and will be included as part of the Independent Safeguarding Authority's record retention and review policy which is presently being drafted. This policy will be published once it has been agreed.
	Until a policy has been established, if the Independent Safeguarding Authority receives a report of the death of a barred individual, the record will be marked "reported deceased". These records will be processed in accordance with the record retention and review policy when this is available.

National Curriculum Tests: Disadvantaged Pupils

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  how many pupils (a) on free school meals and  (b) not on free school meals achieved (i) level 4 and (ii) level 5 in English at Key Stage 2 in the last year for which figures are available;
	(2)  how many pupils  (a) on free school meals and  (b) not on free school meals achieved (i) level 4 and (ii) level 5 in mathematics at Key Stage 2 in the last year for which figures are available;
	(3)  how many pupils  (a) on free school meals and  (b) not on free school meals achieved (i) level 4 and (ii) level 5 in science at Key Stage 2 in the last year for which figures are available.

Diana Johnson: The requested information can be found in Tables 6, 7 and 8 of SFR32/2008, Attainment by Pupil Characteristics, in England 2007/08. This Statistical First Release (SFR) can be found at:
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000822/index.shtml

Nurseries: West Yorkshire

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many nursery places per head of population there were in  (a) Leeds West constituency,  (b) Leeds City area and  (c) West Yorkshire in each year since 2005.

Dawn Primarolo: The Department publishes information on the part-time equivalent number of free early education places filled by three and four-year-olds in maintained, private, voluntary and independent providers. This is derived by counting children taking up 12 and a half hours per week as one place, 10 hours per week as 0.8 places, seven and a half hours per week as 0.6 places, five hours per week as 0.4 places and two and a half hours per week as 0.2 places. Table 1 shows the number of part-time equivalent places filled by three and four-year-olds in Leeds West constituency, Leeds local authority and the West Yorkshire region from 2005 to 2009.
	
		
			  Table 1: Part-time equivalent number of free early education places( 1, 2)  filled by three( 3)  and four( 3) -year-olds, position in January each year 
			   Leeds West constituency  Leeds local authority  West Yorkshire( 4) 
			 2005 1,700 14,700 47,400 
			 2006 1,600 14,800 47,800 
			 2007 1,700 15,200 48,900 
			 2008 1,800 16,400 51,400 
			 2009 1,900 17,200 53,700 
			 (1) A place is equal to five or more sessions and can be filled by more than one child. (2 )Figures are rounded to the nearest 100. (3 )Age of all children taken at 31 December in the previous calendar year. (4 )Includes Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield.  Source:  Early Years Census and School Census 
		
	
	Information on nursery school places per head of population has not been included. This is because data on places available are not collected; only data on places filled are available and as children can access their free entitlement across different areas; part time equivalent places are not on a comparable basis with the population figures. Population figures at this level of disaggregation are also not as reliable as at the national level.

Party Conferences

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families whether any of his Department's non-departmental public bodies sent representatives to attend one or more political party conferences in 2009.

Diana Johnson: The requested information for these arms length organisations is not captured by the Department. However, we are not aware of attendance of representatives from these organisations to any of the political party conferences this year.

Schools: Fire Prevention

Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many maintained schools have been fitted with sprinkler systems in the last 12 months.

Vernon Coaker: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given on 20 October,  Official Report, column 1436, in answer to which the Department placed a list of recently completed secondary schools with and without sprinkler systems in the Libraries. The list includes the date the schools were completed and the local authority where they are situated. However, we do not hold such information for primary schools.

Schools: Inspections

Adam Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what his estimate is of the average sum spent by schools on consultations with private companies to prepare for an Ofsted inspection in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Vernon Coaker: This information is not available centrally. Neither the Department nor Ofsted encourage schools to prepare specifically for inspections.

Schools: Transport

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  how many children used each means of transport to and from school in  (a) 2007 and  (b) 2009 according to school census returns, broken down by local authority;
	(2)  how many children used each means of transport to and from school in 2009, according to school census returns.

Diana Johnson: The requested information has been placed in the Libraries.

Schools: Transport

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much his Department has spent on walking to school initiatives in the latest year for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Diana Johnson: Since 2003 the Department, in conjunction with the Department for Transport, has jointly funded the 'Travelling to School Initiative' which sets out a series of measures to support local authorities and schools encourage more children to walk, cycle or take the bus to school. In 2009-10, £14.11 million in small capital grants has been allocated to schools with approved school travel plans, supported by £6.8 million joint revenue funding of local authority based school travel advisers.

Schools: Travel

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much funding his Department has contributed to the Travelling to School Initiative in each year since the project's creation; how much it plans to spend on the scheme in each of the next five years; and under which budgetary headings the spending falls.

Diana Johnson: The following table details the funding the Department for Children, Schools and Families has contributed to the Travelling to School Initiative during the years 2004-05 to 2008-09 and the respective budgetary headings.
	
		
			  £ 
			   Amount paid 
			   Capital funding  Programme TTSI funding 
			 2004-05 14,251,730 3,530,000 
			 2005-06 22,657,923 3,530,000 
			 2006-07 21,495,745 3,530,000 
			 2007-08 22,704,632 3,530,000 
			 2008-09 18,977,031 3,661,183 
		
	
	Final totals for 2009-10 are not yet known, however allocations of £14 million (capital) and £3.4 million (programme) have been made. We will continue to make capital funding of up to £20 million along with programme funding of £3.4 million for the financial year 2010-11 to ensure that as many schools as possible are able to participate in and benefit from the programme.
	Resources beyond the current spending period (2011-12 and beyond) have not yet been determined, therefore future funding of this initiative will be dependent on and have to be managed from within the next spending review settlement.

Social Services: Children

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps his Department is taking to increase the provision of children's services in Leeds West constituency; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: As with all local authorities, a Joint Improvement Support Plan is in place, and shared with partners locally. This outlines the support provided to the local authority by Government-funded partners, which provide challenge and support to LAs across a range of priority areas to increase the provision of children's services. The priority areas for Leeds currently include: safeguarding; bullying; qualifications and skills at age 19; teenage conceptions; 16 to 18-year-olds who are not in education, employment or training; children's health; pupil attainment; developing services for disabled children; delivery of Sure Start Children's Centres; and emotional well-being.

Special Educational Needs: Disadvantaged Pupils

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many pupils who were eligible for free school meals had a statement of special educational needs in each local authority area in 1997.

Diana Johnson: The information requested is not available.
	Data on pupils with special educational needs and free school meal eligibility have been collected at pupil level since 2002. Prior to this we are unable to determine which pupils with statements of special educational needs were eligible for free school meals.

Young People: Care Homes

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will discuss with the Secretary of State for Health the matter of the security of young people in local authority care homes.

Diana Johnson: DCSF are responsible for all policies relating to children's homes. All children's homes must comply with regulations and National Minimum Standards. These require that premises must be fit and suitable for achieving the homes statement of purpose. Every home must be secure from unauthorised access. This could include for example using electronic surveillance to monitor those who enter and leave the premises or having ground floor windows that can only be opened part way.
	Where a local authority looks after a child, including those that may have been trafficked, then they are responsible for identifying a placement that will be appropriate to meeting their needs, including their need to be kept safe from any likely harm.
	On 1 July 2009, we published new 'Statutory Guidance on children who run away and go missing from home or care'. This sets out the measures local authorities must take whenever a child that they look after goes missing from their care placement and includes specific information about managing support for especially vulnerable groups of looked after children-such as those asylum seeking children who may have been trafficked into the UK.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Betting: Internet

Sandra Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps he is taking to raise awareness of the Horserace Betting Levy Board's advice on use of overseas-based betting operators who do not make levy payments in respect of online business.

Gerry Sutcliffe: I meet regularly with representatives of the Horserace Betting Levy Board to discuss matters which affect the levy, including securing contributions from a wider range of operators. However, it is for the Horserace Betting Levy Board to decide what advice to give to racing and how to disseminate that advice.

Betting: Internet

Sandra Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the effect on the integrity of sporting events of overseas-based online betting operators operating in the UK outside Gambling Commission regulations.

Gerry Sutcliffe: I have asked Rick Parry to report to me on the issue of sports betting integrity and to make recommendations. If any of those relate to overseas-based online betting operators, I will wish to take that into account when considering options resulting from the separate review of remote gambling regulation.

Casinos

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when he expects to announce the results of his review of the slot machine to table ratios of small and large casinos.

Gerry Sutcliffe: holding answer 26 October 2009
	Regulations to define what will constitute a gaming table for the purposes of sections 172(4) and 172(5) of the Gambling Act 2005, which set out the gaming machine entitlements that apply to large and small casino premise licences, were laid before Parliament on 20 July 2009 and came into force on 11 August 2009.
	The Department also wrote to industry stakeholders and the relevant local authorities on 21 July 2009 to notify them of the new regulations. A summary of the responses to the public consultation that ran between 23 February and 15 May 2009 was published on the Department's website on 27 July 2009.

Christmas

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many Christmas functions arranged by his Department and its agency  (a) he,  (b) officials of his Department and  (c) officials of its agency (i) hosted and (ii) attended in 2008; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The then Secretary of State, the right hon. Member for Leigh (Andy Burnham), hosted a Christmas reception for the Department's non-departmental public bodies in December 2008 and a reception for journalists.
	The annual staff party at DCMS is self-funded by staff, and any profits made are donated to the DCMS Civil Service Sports and Social Club account. Information on functions that the Minister and officials attended could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	The Department has only one executive agency, The Royal Parks (TRP). TRP hosted an event for its stakeholders in December 2008.
	TRP also held its annual staff Christmas party which was paid for by TRP Directors and not the public purse. TRP staff were invited to the Winter Wonderland fair in Hyde Park by the organiser of the event.

Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment: Pay

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much was paid in staff costs by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment in each of the last five years.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The information is as follows:
	
		
			   £ 
			 2004-05 3,805,441 
			 2005-06 4,514,700 
			 2006-07 5,006,935 
			 2007-08 5,878,202 
			 2008-09 6,525,985 
		
	
	The staff costs of the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) are published each year in its annual report. Copies are available in the Libraries of both Houses and they are also available on CABE's website at:
	www.cabe.org.uk

Community Amateur Sports Clubs Scheme

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many and what proportion of eligible sports clubs have joined the community amateur sports club scheme in each year since it was introduced.

Gerry Sutcliffe: To the end of August 2009, 5,424 clubs had registered as community amateur sports clubs (CASCs). The yearly breakdown since the scheme was introduced is in the table. We do not hold figures on the number of sport clubs that are eligible to become CASCs:
	
		
			   New clubs registering  Total registrations 
			 2003 557 557 
			 2004 1,447 2,004 
			 2005 1,500 3,504 
			 2006 637 4,141 
			 2007 387 4,528 
			 2008 550 5,078 
			 2009 346 5,424

Cultural Heritage

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many staff were employed by his Department for work on heritage matters in each year since 2004-05.

Margaret Hodge: holding answer 12 October 2009
	Information on the headcount is set out in the table. These figures represent the position at the end of each financial year. The variation in the number of employees working on heritage matters is due to the transfer of areas of responsibility to other divisions within the Department, as well as restructuring and efficiency savings undertaken within the division.
	
		
			   Employee numbers  Total headcount  Percentage of total headcount 
			 2004-05 38 510 7.5 
			 2005-06 37 512 7.2 
			 2006-07 36 517 6.9 
			 2007-08 30 492 6.1 
			 2008-09 26 459 5.7

Departmental Logos

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what methodology was used to reach the decision to refresh his Department's logo in April 2006; which  (a) Ministers and  (b) officials were involved in that process; and what steps have been taken to monitor the effectiveness of the refreshment.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Department decided there was a need for a brand refresh as non-specialist audiences did not recognise our logo and it did not clearly communicate our role. Creative solutions were required to address issues around brand recognition, explaining the responsibilities of the department, and to ensure visual consistency across all applications.
	My right hon. Friend the Member for Dulwich and West Norwood (Tessa Jowell) and former DCMS Permanent Secretary, Sue Street, oversaw the process.
	Due to a limited budget it would not represent value for money to have a dedicated monitoring resource.

Departmental Logos

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what expenditure his Department incurred in refreshing its logo in April 2006.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The costs were as follows:
	Initial design concepts: £3,055
	Identity design development: £10,460
	Identity guidelines: £10,800
	Total: £24,315.

Departmental Logos

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how his Department assesses value for money achieved in the consistency and distinctiveness of its communications.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Value for money is achieved by using consistent design templates wherever possible, for communications material based on the DCMS brand guidelines in order to reduce design costs.
	Due to limited budgets, the Department does not have resources for any wider evaluation.

Departmental Logos

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 14 October 2009,  Official Report, column 408W, on departmental logos, what his definition of his Department's wider visual identity is; what measures he uses to assess the contribution of the logo to  (a) explaining the work of his Department and  (b) the consistency and distinctiveness of its communications; and what assessment he has made of the impact and success of this identity.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The wider visual identity includes consistent and distinct brand colours and typefaces. There are also straplines to explain the work of the Department available to use in several design templates. On the contribution of the logo to the Department's communications, aside from the initial branding research undertaken, due to limited budgets the Department does not have the resources for any wider evaluation.

Departmental Telephone Services

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many helplines his Department operates; and how much his Department has received from the operation of such helplines in each of the last three years.

Gerry Sutcliffe: My Department does not operate any helplines and therefore does not receive anything for the operation.

Gambling Commission: Manpower

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many employees the Gambling Commission has; and how many employees the Gaming Board for Great Britain had in 2004.

Gerry Sutcliffe: holding answer 26 October 2009
	As at 21 October 2009, the Gambling Commission employed 221 employees. In 2004, the Gaming Board for Great Britain employed an average of 76 employees.
	The two figures are not directly comparable. The Gambling Act 2005 gave the new Gambling Commission a wider range of statutory functions than the Gaming Board. These include, for example, responsibilities in respect of the betting industry and remote gambling. It also has wider powers concerning the conduct of criminal investigations and as a prosecuting authority.

Gambling Commission: Office of the National Lottery

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether he plans to merge the Gambling Commission with the Lottery Regulator.

Gerry Sutcliffe: holding answer 26 October 2009
	I have no current plans to do so, although as a matter of course we keep the structure and role of our NDPBs under review, to ensure that they are delivering agreed objectives in a cost-effective way.

Gambling: Internet

John Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to restrict access to online gambling sites which do not meet the regulatory requirements applied to gambling establishments located in UK premises;
	(2)  what steps he is taking to ensure that online gambling sites available in the UK operate under the same regulatory regime as gambling establishments located in UK premises.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Online gambling websites licensed by the Gambling Commission are subject to the regulatory requirements set out in the Gambling Act, its secondary legislation and the Gambling Commission's Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP).
	Gambling entitlements, such as the types of products offered and stake and prize levels, differ between those permitted in premises-based establishments and those offered via remote means, just as gambling entitlements differ between different types of premises.
	I have no plans at the current time to limit the products offered by online gambling operators so that they mirror those offered on the high street. However, the Department is currently exploring ways to ensure that online gambling sites licensed outside of Great Britain offer the same levels of consumer protection that are afforded to UK consumers as a result of the Gambling Act, to help ensure greater fairness between British businesses and their overseas counterparts.

Horse Racing: Finance

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when he expects to announce his decision on the 2009 Horseracing Levy.

Gerry Sutcliffe: holding answer 26 October 2009
	The Horserace Betting Levy Board announced the 2009-10 Levy Scheme on 31 October 2008. Subsequently it announced the 2010-11 scheme on the 28 April 2009.

International Olympic Committee

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many  (a) Ministers and officials from his Department and  (b) officials from his Department's sponsored bodies attended the International Olympic Committee conference in October 2009; and at what cost to the public purse.

Gerry Sutcliffe: No Ministers or officials from the Department attended the International Olympic Committee congress in Copenhagen in October.
	UK Sport have advised that two of their officials attended this event in October at a cost of £1,397.00.

Monitor Consultancy

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether any Ministers or officials in his Department have had  (a) meetings,  (b) communications and  (c) other contacts with the Monitor Group in the last five years.

Gerry Sutcliffe: No DCMS Ministers have been in contact with the Monitor Group on departmental business and the department is not aware of any meetings with officials.

Publications: Sight Impaired

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what funding the Government has provided for the translation and production of Braille editions of books in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Lucas: I have been asked to reply.
	The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) has provided the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) with £200,000 per year for each of the past five years, to support them in their production of Braille materials.
	The Department of Trade and Industry (now Business, Innovation and Skills) brought together publishers and the RNIB to increase the amount of content available in accessible formats (Braille, large print and synthetic audio). This directly led to an ongoing pilot project which also addresses the need for accessible versions to be available close to publication dates of the normal print version.
	The Dolphin Inclusive Consortium won an open tender to trial different formats of curriculum materials for blind and visually impaired pupils. The pilot will run during the 2009-10 school year then report back to DCSF. Staffing at the Consortium includes a part-time secondee from RNIB.

Publications: Sight Impaired

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate his Department has made of the percentage of books published in the UK which were  (a) available in Braille and  (b) produced as audio books in the last period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Lucas: I have been asked to reply.
	The Government do not keep records of the number of books available in other formats.
	We are aware that the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) claim that less than 5 per cent. of books are available in accessible formats. However, e-books with the potential to use text-to-speech promises to radically change this situation. The Publishers' Association is working to resolve licensing issues that are frustrating use of this technology after some authors' agents complained that publishers do not own the rights to the new format.

Recreation Spaces: VAT

Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions he has held with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on a derogation from EU law to allow a reduction in value added tax on the hire of sports facilities; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: There have been no recent discussions at ministerial level. However, departmental officials have recently raised this issue with their counterparts in Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, following representations from stakeholders.

Sport England: Internet

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many people have accessed Sport England's Active Places website in each year since its establishment; how much has been spent on the website in each such year; and what assessment has been made of the performance of the website against its objectives.

Gerry Sutcliffe: holding answer 26 October 2009
	Sport England advise that they do not record the number of 'hits' on the Active Places website. Instead, they record only the number of visitors using the tools and applications on the site. Figures provided by Sport England for the years since its establishment are as follows:
	
		
			  Unique users 
			   Number 
			 2004 59,660 
			 2005 161,506 
			 2006 204,348 
			 2007 218,378 
			 2008 114,270 
		
	
	The Active Places website was launched in July 2004 and therefore the figures for that year are significantly smaller than for the other years.
	Sport England advise that the website has cost the following amounts each year since its establishment:
	
		
			   Cost (£ million) 
			 2004-05 1.98 
			 2005-06 0.877 
			 2006-07 1.1 
			 2007-08 1.0 
			 2008-09(1) 0.894 
			 (1) Estimate. 
		
	
	The Active Places website provides information on sporting facilities in England, but also provides a number of benefits for other organisations. Performance is assessed on an ongoing basis, which helps to inform plans to expand Active Places alongside feedback received from users of the website.

Sporting Events: Finance

Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what contribution his Department has made to the cost of the bid to host  (a) the 2018 Football World Cup,  (b) the 2005 Rugby Football World Cup,  (c) the 2014 Commonwealth Games and  (d) the 2013 Rugby League World Cup; what assessment he has made of the effect on the economy of holding each such event in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Department has made no financial contribution to the costs of bids to host the FIFA World Cup, the 2015 Rugby World Cup, the 2014 Commonwealth Games or the 2013 Rugby League World Cup, although there have been discussions with the FA about a potential loan in support of their bid.
	The economic impact of events can be significant. To take them in order  (a) the 2018 Bid Company have commissioned PricewaterhouseCoopers to produce an economic impact assessment; this has estimated a boost to the economy of between £2.1 billion and £3.2 billion;  (b) the International Rugby Board have published a report predicting potential economic benefits of up to £2.1 billion for a Rugby World Cup in 2015;  (c) the Glasgow Commonwealth Games organisers are estimating the creation of 1200 jobs; and  (d) the Rugby Football League are working with development agencies to assess the impact of the 2013 World Cup, though research shows one Melbourne match at the 2008 World Cup generated a boost to the Victoria's gross state product of 15.6 million Australian dollars.

Sports: Corporation Tax

Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on an exemption from corporation tax for national sport governing bodies; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Department most recently submitted this proposal to the Treasury as one of its tax proposals for the Budget 2009.

Sports: Females

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what targets Sport England has set each of the sports governing bodies on increasing levels of participation of women and girls in sport; and how much funding has been allocated for this purpose in each case.

Gerry Sutcliffe: As part of their target of getting 1 million people doing more sport by 2012-13, Sport England includes an emphasis on the need to encourage women and girls to participate in sport.
	Over the period 2009-12 Sport England will invest £480 million in the national governing bodies (NGBs) of sport to deliver increases in participation within their individual sports. While Sport England has not set specific targets for NGBs on increasing participation among particular groups of people, funding levels for the sports were in part assessed on the strength of their strategic plans to deliver on increased participation amongst women, black and minority ethnic groups, and disabled people.
	Furthermore, Sport England, acting as a centre of best practice and working with their national partners, are committed to continuing to help NGBs deliver and to push them to do as much as possible to deliver for these groups. In the particular case of women and girls, funded and supported by Sport England, the Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation is actively engaged with all of the NGBs, working in a consultancy capacity to advise the individual NGBs on best practice for increasing women's participation in sport.
	For the NGBs, developing the girls' and women's game, disability sport, and reaching out to diverse communities is not an optional extra but a vital part of what they are required to do. If any sport does not accept this challenge, Sport England will switch their funding to those that do.

Sports: Females

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps  (a) Sport England and  (b) the Youth Sport Trust is taking to encourage women and girls to participate in sport.

Gerry Sutcliffe: One of the key ambitions at Sport England is to help partners such as governing bodies to deliver sporting opportunities to as many people as possible, including women and girls. Through Sport England's investment process each national governing body of sport (NGB) was asked to produce a Whole Sport Plan outlining the ways in which they intend to drive up participation within their specific sport from 2009-13. Funding levels for the sports were in part assessed on the strength of their strategic plans to deliver on increased participation among women, black and minority ethnic groups, and disabled people.
	To support NGBs in the design and delivery of provision to encourage women and girls to participate in sport, NGBs now receive tailored support from the Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation (WSFF). Funded and supported by Sport England, the WSFF is actively engaged with each of the NGBs, working in a consultancy capacity to advise the individual NGBs on best practice for increasing women's participation in sport.
	Sport England is also ensuring that new funding streams, such as the Themed Rounds and the Innovation Fund, support the development of women's participation in sport.
	The Sport Unlimited programme, a Sport England funded initiative, which aims to increase opportunities for children and young people aged five to 19 to participate regularly in sport, also targets girls to take part. The latest statistics show that 49 per cent. of girls versus 51 per cent. of boys have so far taken up this scheme.
	As with Sport England, all Youth Sport Trust programmes are inclusive, although a number have been specifically developed as tools to support the work of schools to increase girls' participation, involvement and enjoyment of physical education and sport.
	GirlsActive, launched in 2006, is an initiative designed to empower teenage girls to enjoy more sporting activity on their own terms. Seven centres have now been established across the country, which are driving the work around increasing girls' participation within each of their own regions. The regional centres are a joint approach between the Sports College and the School Sport Partnership.
	The Sports College lead on high quality PE and curriculum innovation work and the School Sport Partnership drive the implementation and innovation of an agreed regional delivery plan to increase girls' participation across the region. Over 20,000 girls have been reached since September 2008.

JUSTICE

Advocacy: Qualifications

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the adequacy of regulation of companies offering representatives without appropriate legal qualifications to represent parties in employment tribunals; and if he will make a statement.

Bridget Prentice: Parties attending employment tribunals are not required to have representation, legal or otherwise and if they wish to use a representative it is a matter for them, and there is no requirement for the representative to be legally qualified. However, all businesses who represent claimant parties in employment tribunals must be authorised under the Compensation Act 2006, (unless they are exempted), and are required to comply with strict rules of conduct which includes a requirement that they are competent to provide the claims management service. The impact of regulation has been independently assessed on an annual basis since regulation commenced in April 2007. The latest report concluded that in the employment sector
	"there has been no significant impact of regulation".
	However, to make a significant impact on poor quality representation, the report proposes that competency tests would be required, which would take years to establish and more resources being devoted by the Regulator. We are currently considering the findings of the report with key stakeholders.

Aleksey Baranovsky

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps  (a) he and  (b) the National Offender Management Service have taken in response to the report of the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman on the circumstances surrounding the death of a prisoner at HMP Rye Hill; and what plans he has to respond to the recommendation of the Ombudsman on further investigations in relation to the death of Aleksey Baranovsky.

Maria Eagle: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) drew up an action plan in response to the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman's 22 recommendations following Mr. Baranovsky's death in 2006 at HMP Rye Hill. 18 of the recommendations have been fully addressed, including those to do with further investigations. The remaining four were referred to Primecare, the healthcare provider at the time of Mr. Baranovsky's death, who have failed to respond. Following the death, the contract with Primecare was terminated.

Approved Premises: Females

Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many bail and safe accommodation places are available for women in England and Wales.

Maria Eagle: The Ministry of Justice provides funding for 129 places for women within approved premises and 104 places for women through the bail accommodation and support service. In addition, a range of other providers exist at local level including partnerships between probation areas, local authorities and the third sector which provide accommodation for women but information on the numbers involved is not held centrally.

Copyright: Music

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 9 September 2009,  Official Report, column 2018W, on copyright: music, how many actions have been brought under section 107 of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 for copying from one medium to another; what proportion of such actions resulted in a criminal conviction; and if he will make a statement.

Claire Ward: Information held centrally by the Ministry of Justice combines offences under Section 107 of the 1988 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act with other similar offences under that Act. It is therefore not possible to provide prosecutions and convictions specifically under Section 107.
	The following tables, for the years 1988 to 2007 (latest available) show the number of prosecutions and convictions in England and Wales where Section 107 may have been used. Data for 2008 are planned for publication at the end of January 2010.
	Copying from one media to another becomes a criminal offence under Section 107 of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 only if conducted on a scale prejudicial to the interests of the legitimate rights holder, or in the course of business.
	
		
			  Number of defendants p roceeded against at magistrates  courts and found guilty at all courts for offences under section 107 of the 1988 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, England and Wales, 1988 to 2007( 1, 2) 
			   Proceeded against 
			  Offence  1988  1989  1990  1991  1992  1993  1994  1995  1996  1997 
			 Makes, imports or distributes illicit recordings. Makes for sale or hire, imports possesses or distributes articles which infringes copyright.(3) n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a - - 219 154 78 
			 Other offences(4) n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a - 1 110 39 91 
			 Person infringes copyright in a work by communicating the work to the public(5) n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a  
			 Total - - - - - - 1 329 193 169 
		
	
	
		
			  Offence  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			 Makes, imports or distributes illicit recordings. Makes for sale or hire, imports possesses or distributes articles which infringes copyright.(3) 86 65 72 59 38 47 65 107 132 176 
			 Other offences(4) 72 87 79 51 59 56 51 62 130 253 
			 Person infringes copyright in a work by communicating the work to the public(5) n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 6 16 33 
			 Total 158 152 151 110 97 103 122 185 278 462 
		
	
	
		
			   Found guilty 
			  Offence  1988  1989  1990  1991  1992  1993  1994  1995  1996  1997 
			 Makes, imports or distributes illicit recordings. Makes for sale or hire, imports possesses or distributes articles which infringes copyright.(3) n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a - - 151 125 73 
			 Other offences(4) n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a - 1 87 35 74 
			 Person infringes copyright in a work by communicating the work to the public(5) n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 Total - - - - - - 1 238 160 147 
		
	
	
		
			  Offence  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			 Makes, imports or distributes illicit recordings. Makes for sale or hire, imports possesses or distributes articles which infringes copyright.(3) 62 45 51 51 26 40 44 85 109 132 
			 Other offences(4) 48 66 53 47 45 37 39 55 88 169 
			 Person infringes copyright in a work by communicating the work to the public(5) n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 6 13 10 30 
			 Total 110 111 104 98 71 77 89 153 207 331 
			 n/a = Not applicable. (1) The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) The Ministry of Justice cannot separate offences relating to Section 107 from those under section 198. (4) The Ministry of Justice cannot separate offences relating to Section 107 from those under other sections of the Act. Statutes covered by this offence are as follows; Section 107 (1)(c), (1)(d)(i) and (ii) and (iii) Section 107 (2)(a), (2)(b), (3)(a) and (3)(b) Section 198 (1)(c), (1)(d)(i) and (ii) and (iii) Section 198 (2)(a) and (b) Section 201 (1) Section 276 (1) (a) and (b) Section 276 (2)(a) and (b) Section 276 (3) (a) and (b) Section 279 (3) Section 297 (1) (5) Includes S.107 2A and 4A as added by Copyright and Related Rights Regulations Reg 26 (1)  Source: Evidence and Analysis Unit-Office for Criminal Justice Reform

Copyright: Music

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 9 September 2009,  Official Report, column 2018W, on copyright: music, how many civil actions have been brought for offences related to copying music stored on a compact disc to a digital format for personal use in each of the last 20 years; what proportion of such actions resulted in a criminal conviction; and if he will make a statement.

Bridget Prentice: The Ministry of Justice does not hold any statistical information about civil actions being brought specifically for offences related to copying music stored on a compact disc to a digital format for personal use.
	This is because the administrative computer systems used in courts do not presently identify this specific dispute type. While the relevant cases will be logged on the system, they cannot be distinguished from other types of actions brought to court. Obtaining the information requested would require the inspection of individual case files at disproportionate cost.
	However, we do hold information in relation to the number of claims relating to copyright and design right issued in the Chancery Division of the Royal Courts of Justice, figures from 2004 to 2008 (the latest available figures) are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Claims relating to copyright and design right issued in the Chancery Division of the Royal Courts of Justice in London, 2004-08 
			   Number 
			 2004 195 
			 2005 148 
			 2006 120 
			 2007 172 
			 2008 286 
			  Source: Chancery chambers, bespoke contribution for this publication.

Coroners: Armed Forces

Joan Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice on which occasions public funding was made available to assist the legal representation of bereaved families at inquest proceedings relating to the deaths of service personnel in  (a) 2006,  (b) 2007 and  (c) 2008; and what the cost to his Department was on each occasion.

Bridget Prentice: Legal aid for representation is not usually available for inquests because an inquest is a fact-finding process and not adversarial. The Coroners system has been designed to function without the need for interested persons to be legally represented, unless there are exceptional circumstances.
	Exceptional legal aid funding can be granted by the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) on the recommendation of the Legal Services Commission (LSC) for representation at inquests, if the criteria are met.
	In 2006 funding was granted on two occasions, totalling £32,541.65
	In 2007 funding was granted on two occasions, totalling £37,089.78
	In 2008 funding was granted on four occasions, totalling £80,496.83.
	Case management is delegated to the LSC, so the final amounts agreed by the LSC may differ from the amount granted.
	The MOJ has provided legal aid in every inquest into the deaths of service personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan where the LSC has recommended it.

Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of the likely effect on the prison population of full implementation of section 26 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008.

Jack Straw: Section 26 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 deals with "Release of certain long-term prisoners under Criminal Justice Act 1991". This was expected to have an impact on the prison population, and the impact was included in the projections of prison population published in September 2008 and August 2009. Copies are in the House Libraries.
	The impact of section 26 was estimated to gradually reduce the prison population from the commencement of the section in June 2008, reaching a reduction of around 400 in August 2009. After then the impact gradually reduces by around 100 per year to 2012, and then reduces more slowly to around 40 by 2015. The impact reduces after 2009 because there are fewer and fewer prisoners sentenced under the 1991 Act, which was replaced by the Criminal Justice Act 2003.

Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the effect on  (a) the number of sentences and  (b) the average sentence length of full implementation of section 21 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008.

Jack Straw: Section 21 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act deals with "Credit for period of remand on bail: terms of imprisonment and detention". It allows the courts discretion to direct that up to half the number of days spent on tagged bail will count as time served against a subsequent custodial sentence. The credit is made on a similar, but not identical basis as remand to custody. It was expected that this measure would have no impact on the number or length of sentences given by the courts.

Departmental Advertising

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice on which initiatives of his Department and its predecessor and its agencies expenditure on advertising has been incurred in each of the last five years; how much was spent on each such initiative; and which such initiatives were offered for tender through the Central Office of Information.

Jack Straw: The Ministry of Justice was formed in May 2007 to take forward the work of the Department for Constitutional Affairs together with significant additional responsibilities transferring from the Home Office. These included the National Offender Management Service, which covers the Prison and Probation Services, and the Office for Criminal Justice Reform. The figures in the following table therefore relate to the Department for Constitutional Affairs where the financial years fall prior to 2007-08 and the Ministry of Justice on or after the 2007-08 year.
	The nature of the Ministry of Justice's activities is such that it does not engage in significant levels of advertising on initiatives. More than 95 per cent. of departmental advertising spend is on recruitment, mainly by Human Resources (HQ and NOMS). To provide information for individual recruitment advertising campaigns would incur disproportionate cost.
	 National Offender Management Service (NOMS)
	NOMS, which has responsibility for the prison and probation systems, has spent the following non-recruitment related amounts on advertising, external publicity and broadcasting. Amounts relating to specific advertising initiatives cannot be separately quantified.
	
		
			  Advertising expenditure 
			   £000 
			 2004-05(1) 0 
			 2005-06(1) 36 
			 2006-07(1) 17 
			 2007-08(1) 31 
			 2008-09(2) 281 
			 (1) The figure for 2008-09 is for NOMS HQ and HMPS but excludes the 42 local probation boards and trusts within NOMS as this information is held locally and could be collated only at disproportionate cost. The figures obtained for the financial years 2004-05 to 2007-08 is for HM Prison Service (HMPS) agency only. They exclude NOMS HQ (previously a directorate within the parent department the Home Office) and the National Probation Service (NPS) which are now part of the NOMS agency. (2) The 2008-09 figures are therefore not comparable to previous years. It would be disproportionate cost to obtain figures for both NOMS and the NPS for 2004-05 to 2007-08. Furthermore, it would incur disproportionate cost to investigate what advertising initiatives make up the figures in the table. 
		
	
	The expenditure on recruitment for the NOMS Agency in 2008-09 is £3,409,968, mainly on recruitment of prison officers. This figure may include other recruitment expenditure not considered to be publicity and advertising. Work to split out publicity and advertising spend from the total recruitment amount would incur disproportionate cost.
	The stated figure for NOMS excludes expenditure by the 42 local probation boards and trusts whose records are held locally and could only be collated at disproportionate cost. A one-off exercise undertaken in 2007-08 found that expenditure on advertising and promotion by local probation boards and trusts was £58,264. There are no current plans to repeat this information-gathering exercise for 2008-09.
	 Headquarters and other agencies
	For the rest of the department, the Ministry's central accounting records do not distinguish different types of advertising expenditure. To determine what expenditure relates to requires retrieval and examination of individual invoices and records held locally across the organisation.
	Advertising, publicity and communications expenditure over the last five years is set out with some of the expenditure for advertising in recruitment. However, not all of the expenditure on recruitment advertising is included since it is not separately quantifiable from the accounts. The Criminal Justice Group, which is part of the Ministry's headquarters, was formed from various Home Office functions transferred to the Ministry in April 2007. It is not possible to extract historical information for the Criminal Justice Group from the Home Office's records prior to 2008-09, meaning that the figures for Headquarters are not directly comparable between the financial years.
	
		
			   HQ( 1)  (£000)  HM Courts Service (£000)  Tribunals Service ( T housand)  Office of the Public Guardian( 2)  ( T housand) 
			 2004-05(3) 2,470 65 0 0 
			 2005-06(3) 4,023 1,049 0 0 
			 2006-07(3) 692 450 33 0 
			 2007-08(3) 610 270 127 14 
			 2008-09 1,976 486 41 39 
			 (1) For 2008-09 and 2007-08, headquarters relates to the Ministry of Justice. Prior to 2007-08, headquarters relates to the Department for Constitutional Affairs. (2) The Office of the Public Guardian was established from 1 October 2007. Its predecessor body was the Public Guardianship Office. (3) It is not possible to extract historical information for the Criminal Justice Group from the Home Office's records prior to 2008-09, meaning that the figures for Headquarters are not directly comparable between the financial years. 
		
	
	Business groups have identified the expenditure on specific advertising initiatives detailed as follows. These figures have already been accounted for in the figures within the table.
	 Democracy, Constitution and Law (DCL)
	Total advertising expenditure for all years from 2004-05 to 2008-09 is £573,564 on the following initiatives:
	Law Commission
	Information Commissioner's Office
	Elections and Democracy
	Information Policy
	It would incur disproportionate cost to split the expenditure between the four categories.
	 Criminal Justice Group (CJG)
	The two main advertising initiatives which are continuing are:
	Victims Sup
	Intimidated Witness
	The advertising expenditure for these two initiatives is not separately identifiable from the rest of the publicity and advertising expenditure of the CJG and it would be at disproportionate cost to undertake this exercise.
	 Access to Justice
	The vast majority of advertising expenditure was incurred by HM Courts Service (an agency of Access to Justice) for the Operation Payback initiative. The costs incurred is as follows:
	
		
			   £ 
			 2005-06 252,000 
			 2006-07 (1)21,000 
			 2007-08 2,110 
			 (1) via the Central Office of Information 
		
	
	 Tribunals Service
	2007-08: £204 was spent on the launch of the Welsh Language Scheme.
	 Central Office of Information
	The Ministry's accounting records identify all amounts paid to the Central Office of Information (COI). They do not, however, separately identify those amounts relating to advertising initiatives and it would be at disproportionate cost to investigate.
	The Office of the Public Guardian has incurred no expenditure with COI.

Departmental Motor Vehicles

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department spent on hire vehicles in each of the last five financial years.

Jack Straw: Information is provided for the two financial years since the Ministry's formation.
	The expenditure on hire vehicles for 2008-09 is:
	
		
			   £ 
			 The Ministry of Justice HQ 731,311 
			 HM Courts Service 661,236 
			 Tribunals Service 16,078 
			 Total 1,408,625 
		
	
	The expenditure on hire vehicles for 2007-08 is:
	
		
			   £ 
			 The Ministry of Justice HQ 829,740 
			 HM Courts Service 838,488 
			 Tribunals Service 18,885 
			 Total 1,687,113 
		
	
	The Office of the Public Guardian and the National Offender Management Service Agency cannot separately identify expenditure on vehicle hire from within their accounting system and their expenditure is not included. Furthermore, the figures provided may be incomplete because there may be expenditure on hire vehicles assigned to generic travel and subsistence codes which cannot be separately identified from the accounting system.
	To collate the information for the constituent parts of Government that were merged to form the Ministry of Justice for the years 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07 would incur disproportionate cost.

Departmental Telephone Services

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many helplines his Department operates; and how much his Department has received from the operation of such helplines in each of the last three years.

Bridget Prentice: Ministry of Justice operates the following 11 helplines either directly or through its Executive Agencies: National Offender Management Service Victim Helpline, Home Detention Curfew and Release on Temporary Licence Helpline, National Mediation Helpline, Family Mediation Helpline, Sentence Calculation Helpline, Prisoners' Families Helpline, Prisoners Abroad Helpline, Nacro Resettlement Plus Helpline, Her Majesty's Courts Service Bulk Centre Helpdesks, Office of the Public Guardian Helpline, the Land Registry telephone service.
	In addition the Legal Services Commission (a non-departmental public body of the Ministry of Justice) operates the following three helplines: Community Legal Advice, Criminal Defence Service Direct and the Duty Solicitor Call Centre.
	The Department continually reviews the provision and usage of its helplines to ensure that they meet the needs of their users and to ensure that value for money is optimised in respect of these services.
	Three of these helplines operated revenue sharing agreements with their telecoms providers in respect of their telephone services.
	The Land Registry received the following sums:
	
		
			   Revenue received (£) 
			 2006-07 221,543 
			 2007-08 164,787 
			 2008-09 40,026 
		
	
	This arrangement ceased in February 2008. The sum received in 2008-09 is a rebate figure relating to the previous year.
	Her Majesty's Courts Service Bulk Centre Helpdesks received the following sums:
	
		
			   Revenue received (£) 
			 2006-07 7,684.14 
			 2007-08 8,075.97 
			 2008-09 10,338.68 
		
	
	The Legal Services Commission received the following sums in respect of the Community Legal Advice helpline:
	
		
			   Revenue received (£) 
			 2006-07 7,019.08 
			 2007-08 9,697.36 
			 2008-09 17,597.00

Injunctions

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what guidance the judiciary issues on the circumstances in which injunctive orders may be granted in such a way as to conceal the identity of the claimant; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what (a) guidance issued to the judiciary and  (b) rules of procedure in operation to the courts govern the issuance of injunctive orders; and what provision is made in each case in respect of the qualified privilege to report parliamentary proceedings.

Jack Straw: The judiciary is independent of the Government and so the Government do not issue guidance to it.
	I understand that the judiciary has not issued guidance on the circumstances when an injunction may be granted in terms that conceal the identity of the claimant. The procedure to be followed to obtain an injunction is specified in the relevant rules of court. None of these rules refer to parliamentary privilege. Whether or not an injunction should be issued and, if so, the terms in which it will be issued are governed by the general law of England and Wales. This includes the qualified privilege to report parliamentary proceedings and the absolute privilege enjoyed by Members of Parliament in respect of parliamentary proceedings. The Bill of Rights provides that the freedom of speech and debates or proceedings in Parliament may not be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of Parliament.

Iraq Committee of Inquiry

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether he has received a request to give evidence to the Chilcot Inquiry.

Jack Straw: I refer to my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister's answer on 19 October 2009,  Official Report, column 1210W.

Prisoners Release

Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many offences have been committed by offenders recalled to prison from release on licence but who remained at large since 2000.

Maria Eagle: There is no central record of the number of offences committed by offenders during the period following the revocation of their licence and their apprehension and return to custody.
	If an offender has not been returned to custody following recall and is known to have committed a further offence, the police responsible for apprehending the offender will be aware of the revocation of the offender's licence because the Police' National Computer holds the details of all outstanding licence revocations.

Prisoners Transfers

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many temporary transfers of prisoners between prisons in England and Wales have taken place in each year since 1997; and for what reason each transfer was authorised.

Maria Eagle: Transfers of prisoners between prisons take place daily for a variety of reasons and for varying lengths of time. Reasons may include, for example, temporary moves on compassionate grounds; or to allow visits to take place; or to take part in particular regime activities. Information on the number and reasons for every temporary transfer of a prisoner is not recorded centrally. On 20 October 2009, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor (Mr. Straw) made a statement to the House asking Her Majesty's chief inspector of prisons to work with the Ministry of Justice director of analytical services to investigate whether any temporary transfer of prisoners had occurred before an inspection by Her Majesty's chief inspector of prisons. The results of this investigation will be made available in due course.

Prisoners: Females

Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many hours of exercise women in  (a) a normal prison environment and  (b) prison mother and baby units receive each week.

Maria Eagle: The information requested is not available. However, figures are available for the percentage of women prisoners attending physical education. During the period April to September 2009, an average of 50.3 per cent. of women prisoners were attending structured physical education. This is a rise from 50 per cent. in 2008-09 and 43.1 per cent. in 2007-08.

Prisoners: Females

Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what diet is provided for women in  (a) prison mother and baby units and  (b) women's prisons.

Maria Eagle: All prisons, including those with women prisoners, provide multi-choice pre-select menus from which prisoners make their individual choices. Each prison devises a menu based on a number of factors including gender and age.
	Detailed catering guidance is provided to all prisons. The guidance includes sample menus for women prisoners together with nutritional analysis. The document also contains specific advice and guidance to catering staff relating to pregnant women and mothers in prison mother and baby units and women who have recently given birth and/or who are nursing mothers. Pregnant women, mothers in mother and baby units and women who have recently given birth and/or who are nursing mothers will normally make choices from the daily menu, with any required additional supplements provided by health care staff to meet their individual and specific needs.

Prisons: Construction

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what he expects the additional running costs of the capacity added by his Department's prison capacity building programme to be in each year to 2014-15.

Maria Eagle: The estimated annual running cost of the capacity provided as part of the Core Capacity Programme is around £480 million, once the programme has been completed. The Core Capacity Programme is expected to be complete by 2012.
	This figure excludes the running costs of the proposed new 1,500 place prisons.
	The procurement process for the five 1,500 capacity prisons, known as the New Prisons Programme, is already under way. An OJEU notice to establish a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) Framework for firms who could design, build and operate these prisons was published on 3 August 2009. This is designed to allow private sector innovation into the full lifecycle of the prisons construction and operation. As such, the running costs will differ for each provider, each site and depend upon the function of the prison. At this early stage in our procurement it is not possible to reveal the estimated running costs from the New Prisons element of the Capacity Programme.

Prisons: Convictions

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people have been  (a) prosecuted and  (b) convicted for smuggling or attempting to smuggle (i) mobile telephones, (ii) drugs and (iii) other contraband into prisons in each year since 1997.

Maria Eagle: The Prison Act, as amended by the Offender Management Act, defines the criminal offence and penalties for smuggling contraband such as mobile phones, drugs and weapons into prisons. The Offender Management Act strengthened the penalties for smuggling contraband, and made it a specific offence with a penalty of up to two years' imprisonment to bring a mobile phone or component part into a prison.
	To provide the information requested would require contact with all Prison Service establishments, requesting a check of their local records. This would incur disproportionate cost.

Prisons: Manpower

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prison officers have been employed  (a) in total and  (b) full-time (i) as at 31 March in each year since 1997 and (ii) on 31 January 2009.

Maria Eagle: Information on the total and full-time number of prison officers and prison custody officers in each year since 1997 is contained in the table. The information covers both public sector and contracted establishments and public sector headquarters functions.
	
		
			  Prison officers and prison custody officers ,  1997 to 2009 
			  Date  Full-time  Part-time( 1)  Total  Full-time equivalent 
			 31 March 1997 18,340 - 18,340 18,340 
			 31 March 1998 18,595 - 18,595 18,595 
			 31 March 1999 19,156 - 19,156 19,156 
			 31 March 2000 19,280 - 19,280 19,280 
			 31 March 2001 18,782 184 18,966 18,874 
			 31 March 2002 18,028 301 18,329 18,179 
			 31 March 2003 18,387 410 18,797 18,592 
			 31 March 2004 20,000 533 20,533 20,324 
			 31 March 2005 20,604 659 21,263 20,995 
			 31 March 2006 20,990 716 21,706 21,412 
			 31 March 2007 21,226 850 22,076 21,724 
			 31 March 2008 21,656 985 22,641 22,226 
			 31 January 2009 21,812 1,100 22,912 22,449 
			 31 March 2009 22,112 1,156 23,268 22,789 
			 (1)Full-time/part-time split is not available prior to 2001.

Sexual Offences: Bail Accommodation and Support Service

Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many convicted sex offenders are resident in approved premises in England and Wales.

Maria Eagle: The number of sex offenders accommodated in approved premises in England and Wales will change on a daily basis. Offenders are managed in approved premises according to the risk of harm they currently present rather than their offending history, and it is on that basis that information is collated centrally. Statistical information about the type of offences committed by offenders residing in approved premises at any one time is therefore not collated centrally.
	Approved premises provide for enhanced and effective supervision of certain high risk of harm offenders on release from custody which would be much more difficult to achieve if such offenders were dispersed into less suitable accommodation in the community.

Tribunals: Legal Aid

Joan Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice on which tribunals of inquiry public funding was made available to assist the legal representation of bereaved families in  (a) 2006,  (b) 2007 and  (c) 2008; and what the annual cost to his Department was of each such inquiry.

Bridget Prentice: Although the Ministry of Justice has policy responsibility for the Inquiries Act 2005, it does not have a central operational responsibility for inquiries established under the Act. Nor does it have any operational responsibility for public inquiries either established before the Act came into force or established on a non-statutory basis. The costs of any such inquiry, including those on legal representation for the parties to the inquiry, fall to the sponsor Department and central records of expenditure are not kept.

Witnesses: Elderly and Mentally Ill

Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps HM Courts Service takes to support  (a) older people and  (b) people with mental health problems when appearing as witnesses in court proceedings.

Claire Ward: Standard 25 of The Witness Charter requires the defence or prosecution in criminal proceedings to ask court staff to make provision for any special needs which a witness may have as a result of a disability, medical condition or age, which mean that they need help attending court or in giving evidence.
	Section 8.4 of the Code of Practice for victims of crime places a statutory obligation on court staff to ensure that, where possible, at criminal proceedings in respect of relevant criminal conduct victims have, and are directed to, a separate waiting area and a seat in the courtroom away from the defendant's family or friends.
	The HMCS Reasonable Adjustments Guidance states that adjustments must be made for all court users, including witnesses, who are protected by the Disability Discrimination Act, which covers those with mental health problems. This could involve altering a procedure or practice for the benefit of the court user. The guidance can be viewed at:
	http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/cms/files/HMCSReasonableAdiustmentsGuidance.pdf
	The HMCS Disability Advice Factsheets include a section on court users who have mental health problems. This provides communication suggestions for providing a service to customers with a disability. The document can be viewed at:
	http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/cms/tiles/HMCSDisabilityAdviceFactsheets.pdf
	with the section on mental health on pages 10-11.
	The Judicial Studies Board's Equal Treatment Benchbook has a chapter on disabilities which refers to mental health frequently (section 5). Section 5.3 is devoted entirely to the topic of mental disability, with 5.3.3 referring specifically to mentally disabled witnesses. This document can be viewed at:
	http://www.jsboard.co.Uk/downloads/etbb/5_disability_09vl.pdf
	The Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 provides a range of special measures to support vulnerable and intimidated witnesses when giving evidence in court.
	Vulnerable witnesses include children and also adults who suffer from a mental disorder or otherwise have a significant impairment of social functioning. Witnesses in fear or distress of testifying may also receive assistance from special measures and when determining such applications the court must take into account a number of factors including the age of the witness. It is a matter for the court to decide which, if any, of the special measures will be available to any particular witness.
	The special measure provisions include:
	Evidence by live link from outside the court room
	Screens in the court room to prevent the witness from viewing the defendant
	Video recorded evidence in chief
	Evidence in private, in sex offence cases and those involving intimidation
	Communication aids
	Assistance with communication from an intermediary.
	The 1999 Act also reformed the law on competency so that all witnesses, whatever their age or disability, are competent to give evidence unless they cannot understand the questions asked or cannot answer them in a way that can be understood.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Apprentices

Vincent Cable: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  how many Government-funded apprenticeship places were available in  (a) England,  (b) London,  (c) Richmond-upon-Thames and  (d) Twickenham constituency in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how many Government-funded apprenticeships have been undertaken in  (a) England,  (b) London,  (c) Richmond-upon-Thames and  (d) Twickenham constituency in each of the last five years.

Kevin Brennan: Apprenticeship funding for further education (FE) colleges and providers is set out in a maximum contract value (MCV). This amount reflects the anticipated cost for an academic year of supporting learners continuing on programmes from earlier years as well as new starts. We do not fund on the basis of expected places rather the number of total learners that can be supported in a given year with the funds available.
	Planning assumptions for funded apprenticeship places for the 2009/10 academic year were published in the Grant Letter to the Learning and Skills Council (November 2008). Further to this, we announced a £140 million package to deliver 35,000 extra apprenticeship places over 2009/10. Although information on apprenticeship places is not available, we do publish the number of apprenticeship starts in each academic year, at both a national and sub-national level.
	Apprenticeship Starts for 2003/04 to 2007/08 were published in a statistical first release (SFR) on 25 June 2009:
	http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/sfrjun09
	Supplementary table 5.1 shows apprenticeship starts by Constituency, Local Authority, Government Office Region and England for 2003/04 to 2007/08.
	Provisional full-year figures for 2008/09 were published in a statistical first release on 22 October:
	http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/sfroct09
	Supplementary geographic breakdowns will be available shortly after the main release.

Apprentices: Milton Keynes

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what plans he has to extend the apprenticeship schemes in operation in Milton Keynes, with particular reference to the scheme operated by ABB Robotics; and if he will make a statement.

Kevin Brennan: The development of high level technician skills in industry is one of our key priorities in responding to the economic downturn. The engineering apprenticeship programme operated by ABB Robotics UK in conjunction with Milton Keynes college is the type of high quality investment in emerging technologies we wish to encourage and the reason why we are continuing to expand our investment in apprenticeships. We expect to invest over £1 billion this year, and last week we published provisional data for 2008-09 showing 234,000 people started an apprenticeship-a record number.
	The National Apprenticeships Service is managing plans to promote and expand apprenticeships and will work with companies such as ABB to develop and support their skills investment.

Business Links

Lorely Burt: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent progress he has made in evaluating the effectiveness of Business Link.

Rosie Winterton: BIS works in partnership with regional development agencies (RDAs) to deliver Business Link services through a network of business advisers, and with HMRC to deliver a national helpline and an online portal at:
	www.businesslink.gov.uk
	Customer satisfaction surveys and periodic evaluations are used routinely to assess the effectiveness of the service.
	RDAs use monthly customer surveys and their own local evaluations to assess business benefits and monitor service provider contracts.
	Serco, the businesslink.gov website service provider, carries out a biannual survey of website users on behalf of HMRC, to assess the benefits of the site as well as regular monitoring of website use statistics.
	Additionally, BIS is carrying out its own assessment of the Business Link delivered Heath Checks that were set up as part of Real Help for Businesses support package.
	A full economic impact evaluation of Business Link was published in 2007 which showed the service was cost-effective. This is available on the BIS website.

Business Links: Debts

Lorely Burt: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what percentage of outstanding trading debts had been paid by Business Link within 10 days in each month since November 2008.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 14 October 2009
	To gather this data to the level of detail and within the timeframe requested would incur disproportionate cost.

Business: Government Assistance

Paul Burstow: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much funding has been drawn down from the Working Capital scheme by each eligible financial institution in each month since it became operational; and if he will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: The following guarantees have been agreed on three bank loan portfolios under the Working Capital Scheme:
	£0.5 billion to Royal Bank of Scotland in April 2009;
	£0.6 billion to Lloyds Banking Group in April 2009; and
	£1.1 billion to Lloyds Banking Group in July 2009.
	Each bank has paid a premium to the Department for these guarantees; no money has been paid to any bank under these guarantees as there have been no defaults.

Business: Registration

Jim Cousins: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what obligations companies registered in the UK have to list with Companies House their subsidiary companies; what sanctions exist for non-compliance with such obligations; and on how many occasions enforcement action has been taken in the last five years.

Ian Lucas: The requirement for companies to notify Companies House of subsidiary undertakings is covered in sections 409 - 410 of the Companies Act 2006 (it was formerly section 231 of the Companies Act 1985). Sections 409 - 410 should be read in conjunction with SI 2008/409 and SI 2008/410.
	Unless an exception applies all companies with subsidiary undertakings must disclose them in a note to their accounts at the end of each financial year.
	Alternatively, if section 410(2) applies a company can opt to provide a full list of subsidiaries as an annex to the company's next annual return but this would also need to be explained in the notes to the accounts in question.
	If a company fails to comply with this requirement the company and every officer commits an offence. The fine for this offence on conviction is one not exceeding level 3 of the standard scale which is £1000 and for continued contravention, a daily default fine not exceeding one-tenth of level 3 of the standard scale.
	Enforcement wise Companies House only deal with this type of breach following a complaint. In the last five years we have had only two complaints where compliance was achieved without prosecutions taking place.

Charities

Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what grants his Department and its predecessors made to charitable organisations in each of the last five years.

Patrick McFadden: The Department may have given grants to charitable bodies through a number of our programmes, but the status of the organisations are not recorded. The Department, however, does provide grant in aid for operating purposes to the following organisations that are registered as charities. The organisations and amounts (where they are over £100,000) are as follows:
	
		
			  Budget 
			  £000 
			   2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09  2009-10 
			 Citizen Advice 23,855 21,470 21,470 (1)21,470 28,970 
			 Citizen Advice Scotland 3,240 2,916 3,016 3,389 3,362 
			 Design Council 6,035 6,605 6,179 6,435 6,475 
			 UK Skills 2,800 3,200 5,000 5,900 10,100 
			 Ufi/learndirect 201,000 171,000 156,000 158,000 145,000 
			 Learning and Skills Improvement Service-(est October 2008) n/a n/a n/a 99,000 96,000 
			 (1) HMT allocated an additional £2.5 million in PBR November 2008 to enable CABx to extend their opening hours for 2008-09-this money is ring-fenced.

Computer Viruses

John Mann: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent estimate he has made of the number of computer viruses originating in the UK; and how many prosecutions there have been for offences related to writing viruses and malicious software in each of the last five years.

Alan Campbell: I have been asked to reply.
	The Government have not made an assessment of the number of computer viruses originating in the UK.
	The Government have made changes to the Computer Misuse Act 1990, through the Police and Justice Act 2006, to make it an offence to make, supply or obtain articles for use in computer misuse offences, such as malicious software and viruses. The changes were enacted on 1 October 2008. The figures for prosecutions under this offence are not yet available.

Departmental Mergers

Lorely Burt: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much his Department has spent on external advice on the implementation of the merger of the former Departments for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and Innovation, Universities and Skills.

Patrick McFadden: The Department has not incurred any expense on external advice in implementing the merger of the two Departments. The cost of the merger to date are £160,000, primarily on changes to accommodation and building signage, offset by savings from removing duplication.

Departmental Visits Abroad

David Simpson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how much his Department has spent on overnight accommodation for  (a) Ministers and  (b) officials while overseas in each of the last three years.

Patrick McFadden: Following a machinery of government change the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills was formed in June. The following figures relate to the Departments before the merger.
	The amount spent by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform on overnight accommodation while overseas in each of the last three years was:
	
		
			   £ 
			 2006-07 131,372 
			 2007-08 318,655 
			 2008-09 445,255 
		
	
	The amount spent by Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills on overnight accommodation while overseas since it was formed in 2007 was:
	
		
			   £ 
			 July 2007-08 3,387 
			 2008-09 4,048 
		
	
	The Department does not separately record overnight accommodation undertaken by Ministers from that of officials-to provide this information would entail disproportionate costs.
	The Cabinet Office publish details of overseas visits costing in excess of £500 undertaken by Ministers, details are available by clicking on the following link:
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/propriety_and_ethics/ministers.aspx

Further Education: Construction

Joan Walley: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will publish the full evaluation made by the Learning and Skills Council on the readiness of all further education colleges to commence proposed capital building projects.

Kevin Brennan: The LSC has published on its website full details of the Lambert Smith Hampton readiness report and the results of the PricewaterhouseCoopers prioritisation exercise. It can be found at:
	http://propertyservices.lsc.gov.uk/other/

Further Education: Stoke on Trent

Joan Walley: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what the results were of the evaluation by the Learning and Skills Council of Stoke-on-Trent Further Education College's application for capital funding; and what the reasons were for refusal of the application.

Kevin Brennan: In line with the recommendations of Sir Andrew Foster's report a prioritisation exercise was undertaken to identify those projects which were the most urgent and the greatest need. Unfortunately Stoke-On-Trent college was not among the 13 projects which after receiving final approval are now under construction. Details of the Lambert Smith Hampton readiness report and the results of the PricewaterhouseCoopers prioritisation exercise can be found at:
	http://propertyservices.lsc.gov.uk/other/

GCSE and GCE A-Level: Young Offenders

Robert Wilson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people in  (a) the secure estate and  (b) Reading Young Offender Institution sat (i) GCSE and (ii) A Level examinations in each year since 2004.

Kevin Brennan: The information is not available in the format requested, as we do not record the number of people sitting exams.
	Table 1 shows that there were 788 GCSE enrolments and 112 GCE, A/AS and A2 level enrolments by learners funded through the Offenders' Learning and Skills Service in the 2006/07 academic year and 1,194 GCSE enrolments and 264 GCE, A/AS and A2 level enrolments in the 2007/08 academic year-an increase of 406. There was no record of GCSE and GCE, A/AS/A2 level enrolments recorded in HMP and YOI Reading in either year.
	
		
			  Table 1: Increase in GCSE and GCE, A/AS/A2 level enrolments for offenders, 2006/07 and 2007/08 academic year, England 
			   Number of enrolments 
			   2006/07 academic year  2007/08 academic year 
			 GCSE 788 1,194 
			 GCE A/AS/A2 level 112 264 
			 Total 900 1,458

Higher Education: Admissions

Nigel Evans: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  what steps his Department is taking to ensure that Universities and Colleges Admissions Service applicants are given correct information regarding the status of their applications;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the number of applicants affected by errors in the online system employed by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service to allocate university places in 2009.

David Lammy: The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service is an autonomous organisation funded by its member institutions, and it is responsible for managing applications to higher education courses in the UK. UCAS has provided us with following information. It receives results from the major awarding bodies and having added them to applicant details held at UCAS makes them available to institutions. It is then the institutions' responsibility to make decisions based on this information-updating the applicant's on-line record via UCAS systems accordingly. UCAS then processes these data and communicates the decision to the applicant both online and by letter. Through the online service, applicants were able to view the decisions received by UCAS at all times. UCAS informs us that on no occasion during this application cycle were any errors made by them in the processing of decisions.

Manufacturing Industries: Leeds

John Battle: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of firms in  (a) Leeds, West constituency and  (b) the City of Leeds are involved in manufacturing.

Rosie Winterton: Information from the interdepartmental business register on the number of manufacturing enterprises registered for VAT and/or PAYE in the Leeds city council area and the Leeds, West parliamentary constituency in 2009 is given in the following table.
	
		
			   Manufacturing enterprises( 1, 2)  All enterprises 
			  Area  Number  Percentage of total  Number  Percentage of total 
			 Leeds City Council 1,550 7.4 20,910 100 
			 Leeds West Constituency 230 13.5 1,705 100 
			 (1) UK Standard Industrial Classification of Economic Activity (SIC) 2007 (2) Business numbers are rounded to the nearest five. These numbers comprise whole business enterprises registered in the appropriate locations, and not branches operating in the appropriate location but with their headquarters elsewhere.  Source: Office for National Statistics Inter-Departmental Business Register 2009

Post Offices: East of England

David Ruffley: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many sub-post offices have closed in each local authority area in the East of England in each year since 1999.

Patrick McFadden: The Department does not hold the information requested. I have therefore asked Alan Cook, managing director of Post Office Ltd., to respond directly to the hon. Member and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Post Offices: Norwich

Chloe Smith: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many post offices there were in Norwich, North constituency in  (a) 1997,  (b) 2007 and  (c) January 2009.

Patrick McFadden: The Department does not hold the information requested. I have therefore asked Alan Cook, Managing Director of Post Office Ltd., to respond directly to the hon. Member and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Regional Development Agencies: Pay

Margaret Moran: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills which staff in which regional development agencies (RDAs) received a salary greater than £50,000 in 2008-09; what expenses were reimbursed by each RDA to each such staff member in 2008-09; what pension entitlement each such staff member accumulated in 2008-09; what estimate has been made of the monetary value of hospitality received by each such staff member in 2008-09; whether such staff members received further benefits from their RDA in 2008-09; and what the equivalent figures were for each  (a) chief executive and  (b) chair of each RDA in 2008-09.

Rosie Winterton: The information requested can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Scotland

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills whether his Department plans to make a submission to the Scottish Executive's National Conversation consultation on Scotland's constitutional future.

Rosie Winterton: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has not submitted evidence to the Scottish Government's National Conversation.
	The Commission on Scottish Devolution was established by majority vote in the Scottish Parliament and with the full support of the UK Government. UK Departments submitted evidence to the Commission during its First phase of evidence gathering.
	The Commission recently published its Final Report, which can be found here:
	http://www.commissiononscottishdevolution.org.uk/uploads/2009-06-12-csd-final-report-2009fbookmarked.pdf
	A Steering Group has been established under the Chairmanship of the Secretary of State for Scotland to help the UK Government and the Scottish Parliament plan how to take forward the Caiman recommendations and deliver stronger devolution within a stronger United Kingdom.

Small Business Finance Forum

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent assessment has been made of the effectiveness of the Small Business Finance Forum in improving the access of small businesses to finance.

Rosie Winterton: The Small Business Finance Forum (SBFF) is an important means through which Ministers can engage with key representatives of the small business community and banks to facilitate better and more effective communication on finance issues. Business representatives have recognised the impact that the forum has had in improving relations.
	Key achievements of the SBFF include the agreement of the Statement of Principles and the formation of the SME monitoring panel. The Statement of Principles defines how banks and their small business customers will work together, and aims to establish the right relationship from the start and outline how banks will help if companies get into difficulties, The SME monitoring panel was set up to monitor bank lending and initiate a constructive dialogue with individual lenders on the availability, risk and overall cost of lending. The panel reports monthly to Ministers.

Takeovers: Mass Media

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps the Office of Fair Trading has taken to amend guidance on local and regional newspaper mergers and competition issues since publication of the Digital Britain Final Report.

Kevin Brennan: holding answer 19 October 2009
	Since publication of the Digital Britain Report, the OFT has published updated guidance on jurisdictional and procedural matters relating to merger control. The new 'Jurisdictional and Procedural Guidance' is available at:
	http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/mergers_ea02/oft527.pdf
	Paragraph 6.15 of the guidance sets out how the OFT will consult Ofcom on media mergers involving newspaper publishing and/or commercial radio or television broadcasting.

Urenco

Dai Davies: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what guidelines will be applied by the Shareholder Executive to safeguard national security in the sale of the UK share in Urenco; and whether any prohibition will be put on bids from companies or organisations from particular countries.

David Kidney: I have been asked to reply.
	Careful consideration will be given to the policy issues that realising value from our interest in Urenco would give rise to before any decision to proceed is taken. Safeguarding national security will remain of paramount importance.

Vocational Training: Leeds

John Battle: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what funding his Department has made available to  (a) all unemployed persons and  (b) unemployed persons under the age of 21 in Leeds, West constituency to learn new skills to retrain in the latest period for which information is available; and if he will make a statement.

Kevin Brennan: The information is not available at constituency level. I have asked the acting chief executive of the Learning and Skills Council to write to my right hon. Friend with information about funding for training for unemployed people available in his region.
	A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library.

Young People: Employment

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what his most recent estimate is of the number of young people under the age of 24 years who are in  (a) training,  (b) employment and  (c) education in (i) Vale of York constituency, (ii) North Yorkshire and (iii) England.

Kevin Brennan: Table 1 shows the number and percentage of 16-24-year-olds in employment, education and training for England and the local education authorities (LEAs) of North Yorkshire and the City of York in 2008. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest thousand.
	These estimates are from the Annual Population Survey (2008).
	
		
			  Table 1: People aged( 1)  16 to 24 in education, employment or training (2008) 
			   Number  Percentage (of total l6-24 population) 
			   England  North Yorkshire  City of York  England  North Yorkshire  City of York 
			 In employment 3,555,000 39,000 21,000 59 66 67 
			 In education 2,452,000 27,000 14,000 41 45 45 
			 In training (not education) 623,000 8,000 5,000 10 14 15 
			 Not in employment or education or training 857,000 7,000 1,000 14 12 4 
			 (1) Age used is the respondents' academic age, which is their age at the preceding 31 August 
		
	
	There are overlaps between these groups as some people will be both working and in education or training.
	Due to small sample sizes, estimates cannot be provided for areas smaller than LEAs. Please note that these estimates are subject to sampling variability and should be viewed in conjunction with their Confidence Intervals (CIs), which indicate how accurate an estimate is. For example, a CI of +/-0.6pp means that the sampling variability ranges from 0.6pp above the estimate and 0.6pp below the estimate. Confidence Intervals for table 1 have been provided in Table 2.
	
		
			  Table 2: Confidence intervals for table 1 (people aged( 1)  16 to 24 in education, employment or training) 
			   Confidence intervals (percentage points) 
			   England  North Yorkshire  City of York 
			 In employment +/-0.6 +/-8.0 +/-6.5 
			 In education +/-0.6 +/-8.3 +/-6.8 
			 In training (not education) +/-0.4 +/-5.9 +/-4.9 
			 Not in employment or education or training +/-0.4 +/-5.5 +/-2.8

Young People: Unemployed

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what his most recent estimate is of the number of young people under the age of 24 years who are not in employment, education or training in  (a) Vale of York constituency,  (b) North Yorkshire and  (c) England.

Kevin Brennan: Table 1 shows the number and percentage of people aged 16 to 24 not in education, employment or training in England and the local education area (LEA) of North Yorkshire and City of York in 2008. These estimates are from the Annual Population Survey (2008).
	Due to small sample sizes, estimates cannot be provided for areas smaller than LEAs. Please note that these estimates are subject to sampling variability and should be viewed in conjunction with their confidence intervals (CIs), which indicate how accurate an estimate is. Confidence intervals have been provided in table 1.
	Numbers have been rounded to the nearest thousand.
	
		
			  Table 1: People aged( 1)  16 to 24 not in education, employment or training, 2008 
			   Number  Percentage  Confidence intervals (percentage points) 
			 North Yorkshire 7,000 12 +/-5.5 
			 City of York 1,000 4 +/-2.8 
			 England 857,000 14 +/- 0.4 
			 (1) Age used is the respondents' academic age, which is their age at the preceding 31 August.